Rogue Huntsman
Diverted
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"Okay mister cowboy, if you're interested in me, I really only do Tuesdays and Thursdays," Skyla said, giving me a half-wave from over her drink. She leisurely sat herself back against the inside of her booth in the meantime, like she owned this conversation.
And if I didn't know any better, she actually did. Which was aggravating to no end.
"We're not dating. And there isn't any interest shared," I said back, the glass of my drink cracking beneath the pressure of my hand.
Her eyes watched the way the cracks receded, mending itself back together before smiling. "Wrong! Because I'm interested in you. Therefore, there is interest between us!"
"One-sided interest doesn't count," I refuted.
Skyla's aggravating smile only grew, and she tilted her head bemusedly at me. Long brown hair annoyingly swayed from the tiny action as she rested her cheek in her palm, black jacket sleeve contrasting her skin.
She gave me an expectant look as she bounced her high-top boot beneath the table, the tip of it absently scratching into a pleased lion's fur.
What the hell did she want from me?
"So… gonna tell me how you fixed your glass?" Skyla asked, the expectancy in her amethyst gaze gleaming now.
Not. Particularly. "Why would I?"
Her smile stayed just the way it was as she tilted her head a little more, eyes turning away in mock innocence. "What? Can't a girl be curious? You just showed her a trick, after all… and now you don't even want to tell her how you did it."
Just what kind of world did this damn girl live in? My hand tensed again, but I kept the glass from cracking again just to avoid further instigating her.
Not that it helped.
"What's the point of explaining what I can do?" I asked, keeping my voice nice and harsh. "We'll never be working together, will hopefully never meet again after this, and most importantly, you knowing more about me is more than enough incentive not to tell you anything."
I made myself immeasurably clear. As clear cut as I could portray without physically hurting her.
"What if I told you about me?" she asked.
And of course it didn't damn work…
"You think I'm even remotely curious about what you can do?" I replied, bringing my gaze down into a condescending, self-righteous glare.
"I do." Skyla's head tipped back up as she leaned forward, giving me a snarky and punchable grin. "Because I'm interesting and you're not."
What kind of reasoning was that?!
"Oh, and also I'm bored. And you're bored. And we need something to talk about," she tacked on, taking her hand off her cheek. Her eyes donned a more earnest look as she gazed back at me. "Tell you what, I'll start."
I never. Agreed. To this.
"I can alter the movement of particles," she started, quietly tapping at the table as she gave a distracted smile. "You know, give them movement, take it away, that kind of thing. Really messes with temperature and structure."
Great. So she can microwave things. Guess that explains why she was scared to dry herself off. "Congratulations, you can make something warmer and cool something off. Sounds like a miracle," I deadpanned, but it only drew a smile out of her.
"I guess so… It can be pretty scary, though," Skyla replied. She moved her arms about before resting her elbows on the table, squishing her cheeks between her hands as she let them hold her head up. "Like, have you ever accidentally blew something up?"
"I have," I answered. "But that was a long time ago," I added, knowing she'd somehow take it out of context and apply it to something completely unrelated.
"Do you ever feel… bad about it?" she asked, her gaze looking more and more distracted. Like she was thinking back to something.
God, I hoped she wasn't going to give me some sort of sobby backstory… "No," I lied, and somehow I knew she could tell.
"You know, you're not as mean as everyone seems to think you are," the brunette commented idly, her eyes staying on mine. Part of me wondered why, because all it looked like from my end was her gaze boring through my own to see through me.
My eyes aren't windows, you know. "Guess I need to be meaner."
The door to our small establishment pushed open with a soft shudder of glass, and the three of us noticed a small group of men walk in. Just four of them.
One of which pushed a young faunus girl by the head to keep her at the front of the pack.
"A couple drinks for the boys, lady," his low-toned voice spoke as the girl fell to the floor, the man's attention fixed on our waitress by the bar. "Oh, and make it snappy. We're just passing through."
He punctuated his order with a hard thunk. The sound of him resting the butt of a rifle on the wooden bar countertop.
Great…
After the five minutes were up, Arex was ready to collapse. It was honestly a huge strain on her body to keep perfectly still for that short amount of time.
So, GHOST was adamant about not running anymore tests for the rest of the day.
Which left Arex with a widely open timeblock. And she wanted to spend that on her own projects, now that she had access to the forge in the Vault.
All it would take would be a quick stop at Beacon, to get what she didn't pack up the first time around. She forgot her tech supplies when she hastily packed up to go to Ly's. Her weapon too. So she wanted to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything else this time.
Arex made sure to grab a napping kitsune after getting dressed, promising GHOST she'll be quick at the room before heading out. She flew the rest of the way to Beacon from there, asking the AI to pick them up in a car again to carry the supplies to the Vault.
A more discrete car. Nothing showy or fancy. But GHOST didn't make any promises about that…
Arex's scroll pinged the moment she stockpiled a few personal boxes by her door, including the suitcase of lien she still had no idea what to do with. It was her payment from Ray for building the processors he asked her to make.
He probably used them too, in that fight with Quinn… and she still hadn't found a use for the lien she received in return for it. And half of it was Kitsuki's. That was a decision Arex was determined to keep.
The phoenix's eyes roamed over to Kit for a moment, the kitsune really only here because Arex honestly didn't want to come alone. And GHOST was sure to convince her to bring Kit along anyway, instead of drop her off at the apartment. It was safer that way. And Kit helped pack things up, so it made the trip faster.
Kitsuki's eyes fell curiously to the black scroll in Arex's hands as the techy's own wary gaze fell to her screen, flicking to the new message.
"Dante…?" she muttered aloud, furrowing her brow. She quickly glanced to her supplies again before grimacing, knowing she'd regret reading his message.
H-How… important was it?
'Are you in right now?'
She hesitantly closed her eyes at possibly answering that. She was in, but she was on a tight schedule. And really didn't want to worry Anoel and Lylac, and GHOST too, while she was at it.
'Yes or no little bird, I don't have time for idleness right now.'
He seemed… impatient, though. And she grimaced again as she unlocked her scroll and typed him a response. 'Yes? What's wrong?'
After a few seconds, Arex was starting to realize he was writing up a long explanation. Which really didn't bode well for Arex's worries. It didn't just look like this was an important matter, it was starting to look like it was going to be time consuming too.
And if he's going into detail about what was wrong, it really didn't sit well with her to just ignore him. If Dante of all people was freaking out about it, she had no idea what to expect, and couldn't exactly back down from it either.
The phoenix quietly sat on the edge of the bed as she tensely waited, letting Kit peer over her shoulder. They watched the little dots bounce up and down at the bottom of her scroll as the immortal typed.
'I don't have time to explain what I don't understand, and I can't really talk to anyone else about it right now. And since I'm certain you won't say nothing to no one about anything, you're my best bet right now. Wait, is Nosferatu in right now?'
'Best bet'? Seriously? Arex thought she fit the worst bet category rather well, especially if any kind of combat or real experience was required. And who was… 'Nosferatu'? Was he talking about Niro?
'He's not here. Why?' the phoenix sent back.
'I don't need him screwing with me at the moment. Given my current state, I'd be like an irresistible toy to a three year old child. Look, yes or no, answer the question.'
Arex slowly closed her eyes, then exchanged a quick look with Kitsuki, silently asking for help. The kitsune didn't look like she wanted to abandon this either, so she just gave the phoenix a sure look and a nod.
Guess they were really doing this…
'Yes, I'm free. But I can't just leave Kit here.' Arex responded, staring concernedly at the screen as Kit reached down and typed too. 'I wanna come.'
He'll… probably know that Kit was the one to send that.
Probably.
'Thank my lucky stars, she's there too. That was sarcasm if you didn't get it. Swear her to secrecy, I don't care how. Cookies, pinky promise, blackmail, whatever.'
Arex glanced up from the message and gazed over her shoulder. Kit's hands pressed gently against the phoenix's arm as she watched the kitsune read the message too.
"I want you to rub my ears for an hour," Kit signed with a happy, silent hum, nodding her head as she did.
Y-Yeah… yeah, that worked.
'She won't say a word.' Arex sent back.
'Alright. Stay right where you are, be there in a sec.'
H-He's coming here?
There was a knock on the door.
Arex glanced up at how fast he got here, let alone how weird this conversation had been, if also worrying. Was he waiting out there the whole time…?
Even if they were neighbors, he had to already be out there…
But without much else to think, Arex dropped herself softly to her feet and made her way to the door, quickly pulling it open.
She was… met with an empty hallway.
She was short, sure, 5'5 when standing in her bare feet at best, just three inches taller than Kit was, but she wasn't that short. Even so, she quickly found herself looking down to see a five-year-old staring up at her.
He had chin length black hair, red eyes with black slit pupils, which already made her take a careful step back, and he was wearing a zipped, black, sleeveless, vest hoodie.
She recognized that clothing, but still…
He had on a gray short sleeved shirt underneath it, black shorts, and black shoes with white soles.
It didn't make any sense…
"Erm…" She stared down to his short height for a few long moments before she took another careful step back. "Who're you?"
"Are you taking an off day? It's me," he spoke in a childlike voice.
She quickly glanced down to her scroll before glancing back up to the kid… then sent Dante a quick message, seeing if it came up on the child's device. 'Here?'
A holographic display lit up in front of his hand as he raised it, quickly typing in a few letters in large font and bolded text. "HERE" prominently read out to her as he turned the screen around so she could see.
O-Oh…
"S-Sorry! I didn't recognize you," Arex quickly stepped back and opened up her door fully, letting the kid in as she glanced back in mild shock to Kitsuki.
She looked… more excited than surprised to see him.
"Thankfully no one else did either… I barely managed to dodge Inuba. If she sensed me out… God… I'd stop breathing for a long while…" the boy said, rubbing the back of his neck. His eyes glanced to her stash of boxes near the door for a moment, but didn't say anything.
"I guess smothering you would do that, but… how did this… happen?" Arex asked incredulously, wanting to know how the hell a teen as powerful as Dante got turned into…
Into…
A child.
"Hell if I know, little bird."
Arex mentally whined. Was he really still calling her little at that size?
"Unfortunately, I happen to be a super magnet in the case of pranks or small minded idiots who think I'm some sort of pushover, like that tall Linkin Park wannabe."
Was he still talking about Niro? "Sorry to hear that. Um, take a seat I guess…?"
She had no idea what she was doing, or how she was going to do it. But that thought alone jogged a quick exclamation out of her throat as she realized just what 'problem' he was asking help for.
"W-Wait, h-how am I even supposed to help?" her eyes stared at Dante in continuing disbelief as the door closed behind her.
"You're competent when it comes to attempting to understand problems and the like, and that's good enough for me. That, and you haven't tried to smother me at all. Yet," he replied.
"A-And I won't start trying to. I'm just… confused, is all." Arex's voice fell soft and unsure of itself, with no hint of confidence either.
"Transfiguration does that to people. Especially when they take on a form they've never seen before. By the way, do you have any cookies or something? I suddenly got a craving…" His eyes immediately glanced to their kitchenette over her shoulder.
"Transfiguration…" Arex muttered more to herself than him. Dante was of magic descent, she was sure of that. But she didn't know major things like this could even happen out of the blue.
To someone like him, no less.
"Yeah, Kit can get you some. She knows where they are," Arex glanced up to see Kitsuki sliding herself from their shared bed, the kitsune making her way into the kitchenette to open up a cupboard. "I think she still has that box of graham crackers you gave her last time, if you're fine with that. Do you want milk with it?"
He shot a glare at her. "I'm not five, little bird. And those will do."
"A-Alright. Sorry, I'm just still adjusting to… this." She glanced back to the five-year-old for just a moment before sighing, making her way over to Kitsuki to shut the cupboard behind her as the kitsune brought the open box to Dante.
One of the graham crackers was already sticking out of her mouth.
"What makes you think I can help?" Arex asked, making her way over as well. "I've never worked extensively with magic before, or anything of the sort."
"Again, it's a matter of competency. Asking Ray to help would be the same as asking an immature three year old with a BB gun to help. And Inuba would be too focused on smothering me. My siblings would do who knows what, and your sister…" he shuddered a moment. "I don't even want to think about what she'd do."
"I wouldn't want to think about it either…" Arex trailed off, not exactly sure what Anoel would do if she found out Dante was shrunk down like this. And so cutthroat too. She whimpered a little at the thought of what her sister would do if Arex was shrunk down to that age.
What if this affected her too? And Kit?
"Plus, I'm going to need you to get me into places I usually can't without an adult or whatever, just in case," Dante added.
It made sense, but… "Doesn't your scroll retain all its authentication and security privileges? You're also smart enough to get yourself into places that are protected by admin rights, since you're still in the same mindset as your previous self. So what exactly do you mean by unreachable places?" Arex asked slowly.
"Ugh… Think about it, little bird," he said, tapping the side of his head three times. "Do you honestly think for a second they'd let in someone that looks like me possessing credentials like that?"
"But didn't you say you successfully snuck passed Inuba without her knowing about it?" That had to be worth something, right?
"Barely. Her senses are so fine tuned she could track me across the other side of the world." S-Seriously? "It doesn't help that our souls are linked either, which in turn gives her a stronger ability to sense me out, even across dimensions," he explained.
Arex just sighed. Inuba sounded… impressive. She didn't know how he even managed to get passed her this time, in this kind of state, if the kitsune was that good. "Fine. I can be your escort, if it helps, and I'll try to help you in any way I can. But you know far more about this than I do. I'll be asking a lot of questions."
"Ask them. I don't really care. But I'm gonna ask you a question first, something that's been on my mind for sometime. And you should answer truthfully." His words locked Arex up in her spot. "Otherwise I'll find out from somewhere else less desirable by equally less desirable methods."
H-He didn't have to be intimidating… about it.
A blue light flashed from behind them, where a small woman stood on the nightstand donning a confused expression.
"The hell is that?" Dante asked before he glanced at Arex.
"S-She's, erm… m-my animated alarm clock?" Arex offered, glancing to her holographic projector resting on the nightstand.
GHOST just dropped her head into her hand with a frown at that sad excuse for a coverup.
"My left foot that's an animated alarm clock. And that was a bad excuse. At least try next time." He squinted slightly, muttering to himself words like form and figure. "Wait a second… Are you that meddler that tried to get into my files a few nights ago?"
"Correction: I did get into your files," GHOST replied. "You're… smaller than I remember."
"First things first, ask next time, or you'll get a nasty shock to your systems. Second, you're smaller than I am right now, so you aren't one to talk," Dante said.
"Arex? Why?" GHOST asked confusedly, gesturing toward Dante in an unflattering fashion.
"The little bird and fox are my helpers for the day. They help me, they learn a few things here and there about this kind of nonsense so they don't suffer similarly in the future. Win win, mini retro Zelda sprite." Dante's sureness really didn't match how unsure Arex was feeling about this.
GHOST's frown deepened, looking at Arex demandingly. "...what?"
"I-I don't know either…" Arex snuck in, hiding more of herself away in her shrinking shoulders.
Dante let out a sigh. "I keep forgetting you don't know what I do… Nevermind that. Considering you're… hopefully friendly and not some spiteful program sent to do me damage, ask next time if you want to know something. Speaking of asking, who even made you?"
"Classified."
"Are sure you want to play that game with me? Like I told the little bird, I have my methods of finding out things for myself. And not all of them are pleasant," Dante replied.
"Who I am, what I do, and who I report to are on a need to know basis. As far as I'm concerned, you don't need to know," GHOST said in a cold, unflinching tone before disappearing.
"You don't get to just up and leave Ghosty. Come back out."
"J-Just leave her be…" Arex muttered out, hoping to get between them.
"With that attitude, I'd think she's Ray's," he said crossing his arms. "He's an ass, but he's smart enough to make something like her. Maybe."
"Ray doesn't share." Kit signed, sticking another cracker between her lips as she flicked her tails at Dante.
"Ray is Ray. He'd sooner break your crayons and step on them just to spite you," Dante reasoned, stealing another graham cracker from the box between them.
"She's not Ray's," Arex stated evenly, which surprised her. She drew her legs in as she sat on the edge of her bed, scooting herself closer to Kit at its center. "Just… believe me on that. We still have your physical age to worry about right now, and I don't even know where to start. Or what directly caused it."
"Saying anything about what I know is Ascendant level of secretive," Dante cut back, muffled by a crunch of his snack. "So before I tell you, you tell me and you can get all the answers you want. Deal?"
"N-No deal. I've already sworn my secrecy to her, and I can't break that," Arex answered earnestly, wrapping her arms around her legs as she pressed her chin into her knees. "Unless you're talking about something else?"
"I already know what you are, little bird. Why do you think I've been using the moniker this whole time? I just want to hear it straight from the-" he paused a moment. "That bit wouldn't work really since you aren't really… you know, horse-like… But you get the point."
She… didn't get the point, but she nodded anyway. "I-If you already know, then why do you want me to say it?"
"Because then again, I hear it straight from you. Unless, you want me to give you a poke to the forehead to find out that and more?" He lifted his hand as he said that.
Kit's hands suddenly reached forward and covered Arex's forehead from behind, glaring at Dante from over Arex's head.
"Relax little fox, it would have been painless anyway. And wouldn't cause brain damage since I've long perfected it," he stated.
"I… still don't think she'll trust your word about that," Arex muttered, staring apprehensively at Dante.
"She and everyone else apparently…" he said, looking off to the side.
Kit moved to Arex's front now as she dropped her glare, opening Arex's enclosed legs to fit herself into the phoenix's lap and continue her snacking. "Why do you want her to say it so bad?"
"She tells me, I have the privilege of knowing for myself, and saying I was right, and covering for you whenever the opportunity arises," Dante replied in an overly reasoning tone. "It's more of a personal thing. Besides, it's the kind of thing where you build foundational trust. I get this one thing confirmed for me, you get specialized access to a lot of what I know. Again, win win."
He kept pushing this… and Arex wasn't sure how much of her curiosity would actually be sated if she just gave in.
She didn't even know why he was making such a big deal out of this either, if he already knew.
She wrapped her arms around Kitsuki's small waist and rested her chin defeatedly on her partner's slender shoulder, giving Dante an unsure and meek gaze. "If you want me to say I'm a faunus with wings that bad, then fine. I said it."
"Har har, but that's not what I meant, so don't give me that sass. I did a lot of reading when I first got here in the event I… needed to do a few things here and there to ensure my safety and my partners. And boy oh boy, reading what I did sort of tipped me off to you. So, cut the nonsense and confirm it for me," he countered dryly.
Arex's eyes were growing more and more narrowed as he spoke, eventually averting them entirely as she hid behind Kitsuki's hair. She hid her face deeper and deeper into her partner's shoulders and neck. "Y-You… want to know exactly what kind…"
Kit's ears flicked up at that comment, feeling her own attention suddenly snap back into the conversation as Arex's discomfort only grew.
"These eyes of mine see a lot more than you know. Hiding it from me does you no good," Dante said, his voice getting more and more firm. "If I'm to trust you and spill my guts about certain matters, it's only fair you do the same for me in this one instance. And seriously, mind you."
Despite his words, Arex still dipped her head further and further away as her encircled arms grew tighter around Kitsuki's narrow waist, voice muttering out almost passive-aggressively. "What does me being a Phoenix have to do with you telling me how to fix your problem…?"
"Nothing. It just allows me to fully trust you now with potentially dangerous secrets. Because if you don't know a few things about what I know, how are you supposed to understand what I'm trying to talk about?" he asked.
Arex just pouted and buried her face into Kitsuki's neck, the kitsune signing in response now to try to respond for her. "She never told me exactly what she was, but I figured it out over time anyway. So, she trusts you enough to say this much… Is that enough?"
"Works perfectly well. See? Was that so hard? I trust her all the more now." He gave a small smile, but Arex didn't see it. "Even with the secrets that are completely mind shattering to anyone else. Point is, you're part of the few people now I completely trust. Congrats. Membership pin will be mailed to you within the week."
She didn't sound very welcomed, or rewarded with any of that. If anything, she felt more vulnerable now that more people were starting to know what she was. "Can we just get to the part where you explain how I can help you and I help you? Please?" Arex asked.
He let out a sigh. "You guys are just plain boring sometimes… I basically need your help, and yours too if you can manage," he said, looking to Kitsuki, who curtly nodded back, "to be two things for me. One, people that can assist me as competent helpers. And two, act as study buddies in a sense to see what mystical nonsense of doodoo I might have stepped in if tracing my steps back doesn't work. And… I need you to shield me from Nosferatu if he decides to mess with me…"
"That's three things." Kit pointed out.
Arex quipped in anyway, not wanting anything else to be added to the list of things they needed to do for him. "We can handle that. We don't exactly have something better to do right now, and you do look like you need our help. So, we'll see what we can do. But I can't exactly promise that we're even remotely capable of keeping Niro away from you if he wants to track you down."
"With you there, he won't even think about messing with me under your protection. As to afterwards… That's a whole different matter… Now that I think about it… I might just be able to take him on…" he said with a devilish smile. It looked arrogant on him with his black hair, compared to what it must've looked like paired with white instead.
"Please don't challenge him," Arex responded, peering fully out over Kitsuki's shoulder now as she looked at the young Dante. "I don't know exactly how strong you are in this state, but I still don't want the kingdom being leveled while everyone's around."
"Kingdom?" he said scoffing. "Sure. Let's go with that. But no, I wouldn't do that anyway. Too much of a pain in the ass."
A breath of relief left Arex's lips as her arms went laxxer around Kit's body, something that drooped the kitsune's ears. "That's good then, at least. Where do we start?"
"Downtown Vale. Catch." He tossed her something from his pocket.
Kit reached up with a swift hand to catch the small object flung at them while Arex yelped and pulled back slightly, the kitsune pulling it out of the air to turn it in her grasp.
They looked like car keys.
"Who's driving?" Kitsuki asked.
"Well, I guess you now since you caught them. Congrats."
Kit casually tossed the keys over her shoulder to Arex, who thankfully recovered enough by now to catch them herself.
"And just when I was about to see something magical today… Fine. Guess it's up to you now little bird," Dante disappointedly said.
The phoenix just breathed out in mild annoyance at how often he was using that name for her, hoping he'd at the very least drop it when they were in public. But she gripped the keys a little tighter and glanced to her scroll on the nightstand.
She'd only driven cars remotely… never directly. So trying to drive a car she's never been in, seen, nor felt before really wasn't going to end well.
And with Kit not wanting to, and very likely not even knowing how to, Arex just frowned for a moment before asking someone who actually could do what Dante asked.
"GHOST, can you drive us?"
The AI in question slowly materialized with her small arms crossed, giving Arex a cocked look with an unamused face. "What's in it for me?"
"Pride in the fact you helped three people in need, and comfort in the fact I won't ever try to zap you for intrusion ever. And you know, other benefits," Dante offered.
"Threatening me won't incentivize me to help you," GHOST responded, shifting her weight ever so slightly on her holographic pad.
"That wasn't so much a threat as it was a simple statement. But whatever, details. You do us a solid, I can do you a solid. Doesn't matter what or when. Even in the middle of the night since I never really sleep."
GHOST slowly turned to Arex questioningly. Almost as if expecting an order.
Arex's gaze grew more apprehensive. "You can take his word for that. We can figure out what that kind of favor can be later as well, I just think we should get going sooner rather than later."
"Are you asking me to drive? Or is he asking me to drive?" GHOST asked snarkily.
"I-I am, if you're fine with that," Arex returned, and after a moment, she caught a tiny nod from GHOST's end in response to it.
Then the AI disappeared.
"Now we should probably head out, in case anything else comes up," Arex said, turning her gaze back to Dante before reaching for her scroll and holographic projector.
"Right… Death by hugs if Inuba decides to search for me…" Dante added in. "You know how I say she's stronger than I am?"
"I've never heard you say that," Kit signed.
"Even if you didn't know before now, it's a fact. And one I've never once joked about. Ever. In the History of everything," Dante said.
Kit nodded in almost confirmation of what he said. "You haven't joked about it."
"R-Right, let's just go," Arex muttered, sliding Kit from her lap as she got off the bed herself. Her eyes then fell to her boxes, and a half-hearted gaze turned to Dante. "One more thing…"
Anoel and Lylac were shown to a table for two.
It was… awkwardly immaculate, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The only thing that particular feeling arose from was the ankle strapped black heels Anoel was wearing.
They were not comfortable. But she could walk in them alright, for what it was worth.
And this?
This date was definitely worth it.
"Fancy," Ly commented idly, as the hostess walked off after laying their menus down.
"Very," Anoel returned, happily pulling out Ly's seat as she turned to look at her. Soft music played throughout the low-light, candle-lit environment.
Live music.
The tablecloths were pearly white, creating a beautiful contrast between black glass vases, white roses, and glinting candles throughout the ostentatious environment.
Even the glossy dark wood felt smooth and sturdy under Anoel's touch, the chair's backrest running down into black velvet cushioning for Ly to sit on.
"Shouldn't I be the one pulling out your seat?" Ly asked as a smirk curled across her lips. "You're still injured."
"Doesn't matter," Anoel replied curtly, a soft smile curling across her own lips as she took a step toward Ly and silently asked for her hand. "Come on. I'm the one taking you out. It's my job to pull out your chair and make all the efforts."
Ly let her hand slip into Ano's as the woman slowly sat down once she was led to her seat. "How noble of you."
The info-broker couldn't help but lean down with an amused chuckle to kiss Ly's cheek. Her fingers traced down Ly's arms for a moment to let her eyes appreciate Lylac's body in that slender dress again.
"Well, you went to the effort of putting your hair up for me," Anoel whispered as she brushed the edge of Ly's ear with her cheek, hands working their way up to gently brush the length of her date's long ponytail. "The least I can do is treat you with all the love and affection you deserve."
"By finding the most expensive restaurant in Vale, making me a custom dress, and helping me into my seat… I guess that works," Ly listed off audaciously as she let her pink eyes roam over Ano.
"And I'm only just getting started," Anoel replied cheekily into Ly's ear, finally leaning away to pull her own chair out and seat herself. The table was small enough to keep them close together, despite being opposite each other.
Ano would've moved it right next to Ly's side if it wasn't.
"Is it bad that everytime I look at you in that dress all I want to do is take you by the hips and kiss you?" Ano asked teasingly, but with a nervous breathlessness in her words as her gaze fell on Lylac's. She was being serious with her tease too. Earnest, even.
Ly's cheeks dusted a little red at her statement, her chin dipping ever so slightly as her smile widened. "You've had plenty of opportunity so far… I don't know what's holding you back."
The phoenix hummed lightly as she rested her chin onto her interlaced fingers, gazing almost longingly at Ly across the white table. "I would, but I'd be doing it all night and might ruin our dresses trying to get you out of that one. But, maybe a few kisses won't be so bad…"
"You trying to court me too?" Ly replied as she raised an eyebrow while bringing her arm up. She curled her fingers over her developing smile. "You're really going all out tonight, huh?"
"I think we're brave enough to go all the way after the first date," Anoel teased under her breath, her eyes entranced by the way Ly's pink irises reflected their table's candlelight. "But I want the date to come first. I want it to be special."
Ly rolled her eyes a little as her smirk visibly widened through her delicate fingers. "We've already been there and done that plenty of times for us to comfortably ignore it."
Anoel's own cheeks dusted pink as she averted her eyes for a moment. "We have, but…" she trailed off, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully.
They had, but… not like this. This felt different.
"Good evening. My name is Sapphira, I'll be taking care of you two today."
Ano's gaze trailed back to find a young woman standing next to them, crystal blue eyes gazing politely between the two of them.
"Have you been to Agila's before?" she asked.
Anoel's own eyes traveled down the waitress's clean suit for a moment before finding her eyes again beneath dark brown hair. "No. But I've heard good things about it."
The info-broker didn't want to mention the small fact that she knew the owner personally.
"I travel a lot, so this is my first visit," Ly said courteously as she smiled softly at the waitress, pulling her head away from her hand to regard her fully.
The young woman nodded before smiling warmly. "Well, feel free to ask any questions you may have. I'm here to help you with whatever I can."
Ano pulled her own chin from her hands as she dropped them into her lap, regarding the girl with a cheekily devilish smile.
Something Ly snuffed out with a minor glance her way.
What? She did practically say 'anything'.
"Shall we start with something to drink? We just had a shipment come in with a new variety of wines carried from Cynthia just this morning."
Anoel hummed lightly, reconnecting her gaze with Ly's for a moment after the previous one put her on an invisible leash. It looked like Ly was leaving this up to her.
"Ice water will be fine, honey," Anoel spoke softly, giving the waitress's crystal blue eyes a sweet smile. "I'm a bit of a lightweight, so I really shouldn't be having alcohol tonight while I'm on a date."
She was lying, of course. Ly was the lightweight.
The thief shook her head slightly with a knowing smile before turning to the waitress. "I'll have whatever the establishment recommends with my meal."
"Oh, well maybe just a little bit won't hurt," Anoel tacked on with a quirk of a delicate brow, contradicting what she'd just said. "We'll share a few glasses."
"Remember now, you don't get a straw for this kind of drink, Ano," Ly teased as she cast her rose gold gaze to the phoenix.
Ano just smirked at that and voiced a small chuckle. "I was going to sip the wine anyway. But, that does make me curious."
The info-brokers eyes turned to the politely waiting waitress at their side, a reserved but ready to help gaze meeting it from the girl catering them.
"Do you have those little black straws bartenders like to serve with their mixed drinks?" Anoel asked, lightly resting her cheek in her hand as she gave the girl an intrigued look.
"We do. Would you like one?"
Ano's eyes cast to Ly again as she voiced her reply. "I would love one."
The thief immediately rolled her eyes in response.
"Okay. I'll start you both off with some ice water and bring out the wine when the meal comes," the waitress stated lightly, clasping her hands in front of herself before eyeing the two of them politely again. "Is there anything I can get you to start you off? Maybe some appetizers?"
Anoel's eyes drew back to Ly's again as the two shared a glance, a small smile quirking as Ano turned it back to the waitress with an answer.
"Do you have any cheese sticks?"
The girl parted her lips just slightly to reply, but Anoel couldn't help but feel a little amusement in seeing the waitress close her mouth in a wordless moment of being taken aback.
It was a precious sight, but Ano and Ly wanted cheese sticks.
"I can have some prepared," the waitress finally said, forming her confused lips into a smile again. "What kind of cheese would you like? We have a fine assortment on the menu for you to choose from."
"Cheddar's fine. We're pretty low maintenance," Ly answered the girl with a sickeningly sweet smile, something Ano could die for.
"V-Very well."
There was that stutter Ano was waiting for.
The phoenix's smile widened just slightly as the waitress gave the two of them a look of politely hidden but assuring confusion.
The waitress eventually found her voice again. "Would you like a little something to dip your appetizers in?"
"Do you have sour cream?"
"W-We do."
It may have been a little mean to the girl, but Anoel found it adorable. Besides, she knew a particular owner was very much aware of her current presence in his establishment.
She figured it'd be nice to send him a message.
"We're happy with just that to start us off, Sapphira," Anoel said, donning that sweet, polite voice again as she lightly tapped the side of her cheek with her idle fingers. "We still need some time to pick out some meals to share."
Sapphira calmly nodded before giving a small bow, heading off with their current orders.
Anoel's eyes quickly made their way back to Ly's own with a smirk, stifling her amusement behind her hand as her irises brightened. "Does this make us bad people?"
"We're the equivalent of sharks, and she had a papercut," Ly calmly returned, letting her head fall back into her palm, her fingers gently curling over her lips again. "She's pretty though."
"She is," Anoel returned, but her gaze strayed away from Ly's amused gaze to trace the delicate contours of the thief's cheekbones down to her cutely hidden chin. She let that gaze stray even more as it slipped down Ly's slender neck and over her visible, very kissable collarbone. "But it was hard enough looking at her when all I wanted to stare at was the gorgeous woman I'm on a date with."
"Considering my semblance has been scanning you this entire time instead of my other surroundings, I guess you could say I was rather distracted myself," Ly countered coolly. The smirk hidden behind her hand widened further.
"I hope I'm not too distracting," Ano hummed as she curled her own fingers in front of her lips, trying to hide away a faint blush dusting across her cheeks. "Like what you see?"
"I dressed you up in a sparkling garment to make you more attractive, so I should hope I do." The girl flashed Ano a little wink at that, letting her fingers rest snugly against her cheek, revealing her grin.
"It is a very nice dress, and soft on the wings might I add," Anoel returned. Her voice was feathery and light, punctuated with a little, invisible ruffle of wings in the ebony surface of the back of her dress.
Where her exposed feathers melded perfectly with the silk of her backless attire.
"God I just wish I can have you as my appetizer instead…" Anoel sighed, tilting her head to gaze more at Ly's reddening face across the table. "Is it wrong to call you too perfect?"
"No… but you can if it helps," Ly replied lightly, her eyes averting for a moment to glance at the white rose between them. Their soft pearlescent stare returned to Ano as her cheeks deepened in their flourishing heat. "I'm sat in one of the most respected and high-class restaurants in the entire kingdom, but you're the most priceless thing here. I feel spoiled."
Anoel could gaze into those colorful, reflective eyes all night if Ly let her. But as she watched them with her own forming blush, she saw a crystalline shimmer flow through the thief's pink irises.
Something she hadn't seen them do before.
"I don't think I can ever spoil you as much as I want to, not as much as you fully deserve," Anoel spoke softly, starting to use Ly's words against her as she sighed. "And I don't know… I thought I was staring at the most priceless gem in here."
Ly let out a quiet sigh as her smile brightened, revealing her teeth as it turned into a bashful grin. "I think we could spend all night throwing compliments at one another, huh? This is already more than enough for me. Even if you did get your ass handed to you, I think you've done more than make up for it."
Anoel's smile faltered, soft eyes averting again as she kept her curled fingers in front of her lips to hide it. "We undoubtedly could. But… it's nowhere near enough…"
Ly's gaze became sincere as it bore into Anoel. "No, it is. I've had more fun today than I've had in the past four months. Regardless of the circumstances. In my eyes, you've made up for it."
The phoenix's gaze eventually drew back to find Ly's again, a small smile forming, but a nervous one. "Is it wrong that I want to say it hasn't? Just to have more nights like this?"
She liked spoiling Ly. She wanted to. And she deserved it. But… Ano didn't think this one night was enough to make up for what happened.
Especially since she was still making up for everything else Ly had done for her…
"I'm going to be staying in Vale permanently, Ano…" Ly whispered softly as her gentle gaze fell into an affectionate one. "I'd rather not do so by myself."
A small spark of gold filtered into Anoel's pink eyes as she sighed again, meeting Ly's gaze with an uncertain, but attemptedly teasing one. "Ly, is that you extending an offer for someone to share your apartment with you?"
"I was given two keys when I bought it, if that's what you wanted to hear," the thief replied as her grin returned. "It's a pretty big place for just one person."
Anoel's mixed eyes merged in a brightening combination of gold and pink, a small smile forming now as she moved her hand to her cheek.
Finally revealing the parts of herself she'd been hiding.
"I'd love to share it with you, if you'd let me," Ano spoke softly, a hint of excitement in her voice.
"That's what I was asking for," Ly returned earnestly.
Anoel's excitement only rose upon hearing that.
"Poor girl…" Skyla muttered quietly.
I knew her eyes were fixed on the little chestnut-haired fox faunus on the ground, soft red dress dirty from however long she'd been on the road for. Traveling with these guys.
Maybe they were faunus traffickers. Maybe they were just doing this for the fun of it. Or maybe the girl was actually one of theirs.
How should I know? They were all human, save for the four-year-old curled up on the floor, holding her ears flat against the top of her head. Our own conversation sat in silence for the next few minutes.
The men had all taken their seats at the barstools by now. Free drinks in their hands, and ignorant of a damn lion in the room.
"There are a lot of girls in her position. She's not the only one," I idly spoke back, keeping to my drink. It was just the reality of the situation. But my jaw unconsciously tightened at the boisterous chatter getting tossed around from them. Their voices filled the air far more than ours did.
They'd apparently been traveling for three days now. Came all the way from a human villa to escort back a kidnapped faunus girl.
They were huntsmen. And proudly corrupted by greed.
Instead of bringing her home, as tasked, it was suspiciously looking like they were planning to sell her to a trafficking ring inside the city of Vale. Probably for a higher price than what her faunus family was paying for.
A quiet sigh blew out of Skyla's lips as she watched the group across the room, our waitress busily working away at their orders. Apparently, she wasn't allowed to serve anyone else while they were here.
And we were out of whiskey.
The girl across from me moved her legs over our lion, his body lying comfortably on the floor now that he'd finished his meal. She stood herself up calmly and dusted her leggings off beneath her black-to-purple short-shorts.
Before she could utter a word to them, though, I stood with a quiet creak from the floorboards, abandoning my empty drink at the table.
Her gaze shot to me, but I grumbled it away as I crossed the room. My steps weren't exactly silent, far from it, and I drew the attention of all four huntsmen as I walked over.
The man who'd been pushing the faunus girl around jabbed the one next to him with his elbow. "What's with this guy? He got a problem or-"
I calmly stepped over the girl curled up on the ground and plucked the man up off his stool, keeping his windpipe nice and crushed beneath my hand around his neck. His legs immediately kicked the stool out from under him as he grabbed tightly at my arm, crashing his seat to the floor in his alarmed flailing.
"My problem is I'm thirsty," I stated evenly, lowering my choking hand down to my side as I dragged the huntsman to a large front-facing window. "And that's my waitress you're ordering around."
His fingers clawed at my glove as I crushed through his aura.
Having a little trouble breathing there, buddy? Here, let me help you.
I dragged the man up from the floor again and turned my gaze to a watching Skyla, holding him out in a silent gesture to make sure she was paying attention.
"You said you wanted to know how I fixed my glass?" I asked. She distractedly nodded at me as the man's dangling legs kicked desperately at my side. "Here's a demonstration then."
I let the man's throat go and drove my leg into his side, sending him crashing through the window and straight into the fountain outside at the center of town. It'd be pretty pathetic if he drowned in water as shallow as that.
"H-Hey!"
The strap of a rifle clanged and drew taught as I turned my attention to the three standing up from their stunned silence. What, did they all use rifles now?
Skyla crossed the room this time and tapped the man's shoulder, his wide eyes turning to her. And she smiled innocently as his cheek squished into her prodding finger.
"Hey there, can I try something with you?" she asked playfully, resting her hand atop his pointed rifle.
The other two huntsmen quickly reached for whatever rifles they had strung over their backs as Skyla redirected the one she held, pointing it to each of the men in front of her.
Without the trigger being pulled, she drove two bullets into each of them, four concussive blasts echoing in the quiet room as her targets' bodies shimmered in protective aura.
"Y-You'll-" "P-Pay for that!" they yelled, pain still reeling from their chests. Aura protected from harm, but didn't quite erase the pain.
"Awe, just like you'll pay for your drinks?" Skyla asked, giving them a sweet smile before taking a tighter hold of the rifle she held and knocking the butt of it up into its wielder's chin.
I watched his head snap back from the impact before the brunette happily broke the strap connecting it to its owner. Then took a batter's stance to wind up and slam the weapon into the back of the man's head, breaking the gun in half and throwing his shimmering body into the two others.
"So, just gonna stand over there?" she asked calmly, tossing the broken barrel she still held over her shoulder. Her eyes fell on me by the broken window, where shards of loose glass were slowly fitting themselves back into place.
Reversing the same animation they fell into when the window broke around the first man's body.
"I only wanted the one," I replied, gesturing to the man lying in the fountain outside.
"Awww, so you're not gonna show me anything else?" she whined, making her way around a scared faunus on the ground to stand over the mess of three bodies groaning on the ground.
One of her steps 'missed' and landed with a crushing sound between one of their legs, a faux apology slipping from her lips as she crouched down. Aura or not, apparently she can bypass that through sheer touch. Unless they were out of aura already
"Isn't one trick enough?" I asked instead, watching as she reached down with her hands and pat the heads of two groaning souls.
"Not until you explain it!" Skyla called back, smiling all the wider, devilishly this time as she gave the two beneath her a wicked grin. "Hey there, you two. Can I ask you something?"
The pile groaned again, still out of it. One voice of the three much higher than the rest.
"What was that? I can't hear you over the-" She took the two heads she was petting and slammed them against each other, breaking through their aura and concussing them into unconsciousness. "-sound of two empty rooms saying hi."
Well, I guess that left the man she stomped on. The lucky one at the top of the pile, curled up in the same exact position they all left that faunus girl in.
Speaking of her, my gaze turned to see if she was still on the floor, but a grimace settled over my face when I saw her curled up in a large mass of white fur. Icy blue eyes calmly regarded us as a deep, reverberating purring slipped into the room from the lion's body.
Apparently, he thought it was necessary to protect and comfort the girl wrapped in his paws, the two lying together on the floor.
Try not to scare her even more, Icy.
"Aaaand, that just leaves you," Skyla proclaimed, standing up from between the legs of her last victim. She held up her finger once his pained eyes met her, that smile still playing over her lips as she opened her mouth again to talk.
That smile unexpectedly fell, and the tone she used breathed a chilled, icy poison I didn't even know she was capable of. Her entire, playful facade fell in just one long sentence.
"Give me the address of where you accepted this job, and I won't castrate the four of you in your sleep and bury you alive tied up and tied down in the rocky bed of the nearby river."
Every word dropped like a hammer over a line of stakes.
It wasn't even a question from her this time. There wasn't a choice in the matter, let alone an obvious door out of her demand.
Something she reinforced with a deathly shadow passing through her usually bright, twinkling amethyst gaze.
To sum it up, she got the address and broke each of their weapons and scrolls. Now the four men all sat tied up and stripped in the fountain outside, lien piled high on the bartop. They were all alive and breathing, but still unconscious.
And now, we had a little addition to our booth. That addition in the form of a young girl sitting in a white lion's mane, playing softly with his fur.
"No, it doesn't work like that." And here I was, stuck explaining what I did with the window to Skyla as she fed the girl a newly ordered bowl of chicken noodle soup. "Objects like that tend to remember the state they were in before being broken."
"You are being super vague with your words," Skyla replied, eyes distracted on the young girl she was tending to. Her voice was back to normal, and quite frankly, I actually preferred this light counterpart to what she used before.
This version actually had life in it. A soul. The one she used earlier lacked both of those, and deeper than that, lacked a shred of morality.
The combination breeded a feeling of deadly intent without the girl even trying. And here she was now, making funny faces and nuzzling the faunus girl's cheek every chance she could while she got her fed.
At least the young girl was smiling back with perked ears, hazel eyes bright and content.
"Then maybe you're just not thinking into it enough," I replied in a forcibly calm tone. With that girl here, I was watching how I worded things. "You should know this yourself because you literally feel the atomic structure of objects through your semblance, but you know how everything has a defining structure?"
The brunette gently slipped another spoonful into the girl's mouth before humming in thought, tossing a momentary glance my way. "Nope."
Liar. "It's like that, except I don't need to have an idea of what that structure was like."
She hummed again as she plucked her spoon out from the fox faunus' small mouth. "Then why mention it?"
"Because all I'm doing is reverting an object back to that state. Back when its bonds weren't severed," I explained.
"So you can turn back time?" Skyla apparently mastered the art of looking confused while piecing everything together in her head.
I tightened the grip of my refilled drink and glared at the brunette. "Not the way I'd word it, considering it's a lot more limited than that. Not to mention the window of time it needs to even be done."
"But you can totally smash something then bring it back to the state it was in before you smashed it," she quipped back, stirring up another spoonful of soup for our young guest. The four-year-old's chestnut fox ears perked again when Skyla fed her the next bite.
Damn it. Why the hell were kids adorable…? Why couldn't they just be ignorable ugly trolls all the time?
"You know, if I didn't know any better," Skyla commented, my eyes shooting away when hers glanced to me. "I'd think you had a soft spot for kids."
"If you mean I won't kill them, then you're not wrong," I dropped a few octaves in my response, dropping a few more when a certain lion chuckled in a growl beside the table.
Oh just do your job and keep that little girl raised on your head.
A long, antagonizing hum slipped from Skyla's sealed lips before she smiled at me. "Okay. Next question."
Great. There's more.
"What's with those bright green strings of yours? And that glove?"
Don't touch my glove.
"So… how did you want to interface her?" Arex asked, watching as the small Dante climbed into the open door of his car and started looking around. Thankfully, he agreed to carry her boxes out to GHOST's care before taking her to his. The AI's vehicle was sent back to the Vault for the time being.
"Easy. Plug and play. Like that stupid thing called the Switch," he replied, opening a lid beneath the central console.
"And… she'll have full control?" Arex asked again, moving forward to lean into the open door to see where she needed to plug in her scroll.
"Pretty much. When I do plug her in, I'm just hoping she doesn't try to kill me out of spite. Not that she can, but… it'd be annoying to deal with. Sort of. Maybe. I don't know," he said as he rummaged through the consoles insides. "Where's that interface slot that vampiric bastard mentioned…?"
The sound of another car door opening caught Arex's ears as she looked up past Dante, seeing Kit plop herself down into the shotgun seat as she stared down at her own scroll.
"Vampiric…?" Arex couldn't help but ask, sliding her scroll forward across the dash for Dante to grab as she let her gaze wander around the rest of the car.
"Undead, superhuman assclowns that drink people's blood and get stronger for it. Only way to kill one is by destroying its heart entirely or just eviscerating the body to kingdom come. Take your pick of which method I used."
"Sounds hard to fight them," she spoke softly, glancing over to spot Kit holding up the number two with her free hand. "But I take it you did the latter?"
"Yup. Though, Howling Dark didn't only slice them up like Christmas turkey, but also burned away any trace of their bodies down to the last molecule. That way they can't come back."
Dante's voice spoke out through his rummaging, a small spark emitting from where his hands were digging into.
"They're not all bad. My friend is one and is part of the first and most prestigious family clans. Needless to say, his help was invaluable. He's also the one that bought and customized this beauty of a machine."
She… wasn't exactly the biggest fan of cars. She had wings, so, it kind of felt off being so anchored to the ground like this.
"I prefer the Interceptor prototype…" GHOST mumbled, standing in the palm of Arex's hand from her projector.
"Interceptor?" small Dante asked.
"A prototype vehicle. Built and maintained by yours truly," GHOST replied, flashing a small smirk. "I would go into technical specifications, but I don't want to confuse you."
"Confuse me, huh? Alright…" Dante muttered.
Arex kind of prefered the Interceptor too… since it was sleeker than this. But Dante's was nice too, just more family friendly with more seats and space. And had a retractable roof.
He stopped working for a moment and grabbed Arex's scroll from the dashboard, bringing it back down to what he was doing.
"Considering under the hood it has a rearward-housed, low-profile, liquid-cooled, hydrogen-injected internal combustion engine with an infinitely variable transmission, and this has two engines, I'd take that over this anyday," GHOST proclaimed.
Arex was an engineer, so she understood the majority of that… and she honestly would prefer that too, if she got past her discomfort of being grounded. Still, she didn't exactly know anything about the slick vehicle sitting pretty in front of her either.
"Hmph. Cute," Dante said, grabbing a connector wire from the glovebox and quickly plugging it into a small, flat, rectangular black box with numerous wires emerging from its back. "Make sense of any of this, and you can ask me to do almost anything for three days," he said, plugging in Arex's scroll to the other end of the wire.
They were having a car measuring contest… But if she was being honest, she'd probably sway toward whichever one could take flight.
"Is it ready to go once that's in?" Arex asked.
"Give her a sec," Dante said with a smirk, snapping the wire's connector into the scroll.
"Almost done," GHOST said as soon as the connector was in, the engine struggling to start up with the sound of her voice. "It's taking me longer than usual, but that's to be expected, given this… foreign technology. I'm having difficulties translating the firmware. I'm also still working on it, but I have to get basic functions down."
At the sound of the engine starting to run, Arex watched as Dante's smirk faltered slightly.
"Huh… I was maybe expecting a complete connection in 2.87 seconds, but… Looks like you're slacking a bit, Ghosty," he commented. "You sure it's as inferior as you say it is?"
"What was that? You want to drive? By all means," GHOST replied snappily, her holographic avatar closing her eyes in concentration.
"I'd do it myself if I wasn't the bite-sized version of the usual me. But since neither of these two want to drive, I'm asking you to do it while also slightly poking at you a bit. Seriously, there's literally no humor with any of you guys. Maybe her, but…" he said, nodding to Kitsuki.
One of Kit's tails flicked as she shook her head, pointing at Arex before folding one of her fox ears. "You just have to get to know her."
GHOST's avatar flickered for a moment as she stood on Arex's palm, the phoenix starting to get a little worried that she was overly concentrating.
"Then shut your mouth and let me focus," the AI said.
Dante let out a sigh as he leaned over to Arex a bit. "My AI friend is much better. And humorous. And friendlier."
He had an AI friend too…? Arex quirked a delicate brow before glancing back to GHOST, gaze softening. "Not that I'm biased, but I am. And like Kit said about me, you just have to get to know her."
"Kinda hard to do that when she's being all curmudgeon like that. And possibly contemplating how to murder me," the young Dante replied.
"You can start with being a little less poky with her?" Arex offered.
"What? I can't help it. It's like I have this itching compulsion to poke at people being hostile with me."
Somehow to prove a point though, Arex watched as Kit reached over to lightly poke Dante's arm, flicking one of her other tails as she did so. Though, he immediately poked back.
"See?" Dante voiced, looking at Kit now.
When Arex glanced back to her palm, GHOST's avatar was cycling through several colors, still flickering slightly every few seconds. "Well, your AI friend doesn't have to rewrite their own software to interface with a car, right now, so I'd appreciate it if you'd give me a moment to concentrate."
The boy looked back and gave a sour look. "He wouldn't have to, but… Whatever, sorry."
The engine ceased momentarily before immediately firing to life, GHOST's eyes opening with a smile. "Got it."
"Wonderful," Dante said as he unplugged the scroll, placed it back on the dash, then dug into the glove box again to pull out a black card.
He placed the card in the slot next to wired cable's slot, removing that soon after, and shifted the box back into the console before closing the lid.
"One more thing now…" he said, bringing up a holographic display with his hands. "Can I get a direct line with you for a few seconds?"
"As in a call?" GHOST asked.
"Good one, but no, not what I meant. I need you to connect to my scroll to download the continued permissions code I put in. Please," he added quickly.
"Sending them to Arex will allow me to download and use them," GHOST explained evenly. "I'm not downloading myself into your scroll for that."
Arex just nodded to that, glancing back to her scroll he was still holding before shifting her weight slightly. "GHOST's protecting everything on my scroll as it is, so it's under high security. If that's what you're worried about."
"It's not that I'm too worried about it. The permissions code is like a special access key signal that'll allow a driver to run the car," Dante explained. "Without it, the car would only budge ten feet. Even then, the code needs to be continuously inputted again every set amount of minutes to keep it running. Otherwise, the car will stop running."
"She can just download it from my scroll then," Arex continued, not liking the idea of GHOST needing to directly link herself to anything just for a download. "File size doesn't matter as well. I gave that scroll as much storage as I thought I'd ever need."
He let out another sigh. "Make my job harder why don't you…"
"Your job harder? I just rewrote my entire system to operate your car, the least you could do is send one file," GHOST replied, folding her arms and frowning.
"Did I mention if the code isn't properly sent or transmitted it'll blow up someones scroll? A single digit of code is all it takes."
"Just transfer it. The scroll you're holding can handle it, you just have to send the proper code," Arex responded instead. She knew what her scroll was capable of, and what it wasn't.
But she spent years fine-tuning that device and upgrading it, she'd have hoped that he'd recognize that. Even a little bit.
"Little bird, little bird… You make me sound like such a simple person if you think I'd store the code on the device… I'm doing this from memory if you didn't notice my fingers moving faster than a drug addict playing a violin. Brilliantly might I add," Dante returned.
"I've stored your data in my databanks, Arex," GHOST cut in, watching Dante now as well. "Just in case he messes up and blows your scroll up. And me along with it."
Dante's eyes narrowed in focus. "Really stressing me out right now!"
"Thank you," Arex nodded to GHOST, then spared a glance back to Dante typing away at his own device. "And it can't be that hard to memorize something for you."
He chuckled briefly with a stressed tone. "Again, I'm not such a simple person."
"Whenever you're ready, we'll be right here," GHOST responded, materialising a magazine and chair in the process.
A few more seconds of typing and he closed the screen, letting out a huff of air as he slouched back in the seat and dragged his hands over the face.
"Almost messed up… Damn these tiny fingers of mine…"
"If we place him in soil and pour water on his head, do you think we'll get the real Dante back? I don't like this one," GHOST asked, turning to look up at Arex.
Arex just shrugged. "It's our job to figure out how to return him to normal, so I guess we can't rule anything out."
"I wanna help bury him," Kit signed, adding her little input from the passenger seat.
"Laugh all you like…" he said, moving himself to the backseat to allow Arex in the driver seat as he buckled his seatbelt in back. "But none of you would like the real Dante."
"But nobody was laughing," Kit signed again. "And you wouldn't like the real Kitsuki either."
"The real me is a lot taller than this version…" GHOST added.
"Sure. Joke around about it all you like," he said, leaning back in his seat. "But that'd probably be the worst case scenario for everyone alive…" he muttered to himself silently in a serious tone.
Arex just glanced curiously to Kitsuki, looking past GHOST's avatar she placed down between the armrests as she climbed into the driver's seat.
She… wanted to know if Kit was serious about that, but all Kit did was offer her a small smile and a shrug of a single slender shoulder.
Then she looked away.
"Are we ready yet?" GHOST asked the occupants of the vehicle as her digitized magazine disappeared into thin air.
"Y-Yeah," Arex muttered, eyes still gazing at the side of Kitsuki's averted face before turning to the steering wheel. "Yeah, we're ready."
"Seatbelts on, hands on the steering wheel, don't touch anything else," GHOST directed, standing at the dash now.
"Are you sure you want me touching the steering wheel while you drive?" Arex asked, shutting her door before pulling her seatbelt into place.
An action Kitsuki mimicked in her peripherals.
"You just gotta make it look like you're driving, to ensure no one starts wondering when self-driving cars started shipping out," GHOST explained.
R-Right, she probably should've figured that. "I can do that, then."
"Good. Now, it would be nice if we had a destination," GHOST responded, all but eyeing Dante in the back seat.
He only raised up his hand to bring up the holographic screen again, then pushed it away from himself towards the holographic display of the central console. Coordinates appeared on a map with a path to follow.
"Downtown Vale," GHOST's projection nodded, crossing her arms as the wheel turned and the handbrake disengaged. The car started to move forward with a ghostly press of the gas pedal. "We'll be there in twelve."
Whew, plenty of scenes to follow. Hope something's there for people to take an interest in.
More stuff on Niro and Skyla next chapter. Anoel and Lylac are acting like kids who've never been on a date before (because they haven't). Arex, Kitsuki, and GHOST are getting pulled into a mysterious quest from Dante. And one omake.
For now, Favorite and Follow this new story.
I look forward to seeing REVIEWS for this. You'll be introduced to a LOT of concepts of mine. Feel free to give me your thoughts.
Cya XP
Omake: by Xera Stark
"Okay, hold still," Skyla said, a look of focus on her face.
Niro nearly crushed his glass of whiskey again, staring up at the brunette's face as she leaned over the table toward him. "I'll bite."
"If you bite me, I'll bite you, and then we'll just be eating each other," she replied in a simple, knowingly innocent voice. Two cute legs dangled down from what she held over Niro's head before a red dress fluttered into view. "Now, don't move…"
"Moving." Niro tried to slide out of the booth, but only butted heads with a white lion. The cowboy's lime green eyes shot into a narrow glare as the white grimm pushed him back into place with his nose, purring out a chuckle.
Right back into the intended target range, too.
Skyla smiled widely as she plopped the little chestnut faunus down onto Niro's shoulders, sitting back in her seat with Niro's stolen cowboy hat. "Perfect!"
Niro's face was dead. As dead as his soul. While the girl on his shoulders smiled happily and stuffed her hands into his black hair, kicking her cutely dangling feet at either side of his head.
Somehow, the sight was still cute. Skyla was pretty sure the cute waves coming from the fox girl were overpowering the waves of death pouring from Niro's unamused face.
With a slow, minuscule movement of his hands, he stopped the girl's cute kicking with a light grab of her small ankles.
"I'm taking her off," he deadpanned.
"Wait wait wait wait wait!" Skyla threw her hands up and quickly pulled out her scroll, stopping Niro for just long enough to snap a picture and giggle. "Okay, you can take her off if you want. She'll probably cry, though. She likes it up there."
"She won't cry," Niro's dead voice spoke again, his hands moving from her stilled ankles to tuck beneath her arms. Her fingers clutched at his black hair when he lifted her, and when he looked up, her face scrunched up with her hazel eyes starting to waver and glisten. "You're not crying."
She cried.
Niro begrudgingly set her back down on his shoulders and kept her there.
She stopped.
Skyla giggled at the whole display, a small blinking red light shining from her scroll to indicate she'd been happily recording the whole thing.
"I think she likes you," the brunette chirped happily.
Niro's dead voice came back. "I hate you."