She was coping well. Typing as fast as Evan would (minus the intense knowledge of computers that he possesses), carrying books as if she's more Tomas (with the help of being a bookworm and making badminton her favorite sport), giving encouraging words to Cahills (that's just the Filipino spirit inside of her) and telling off that Phoenix is not dead, there would be a possible lead at where the hostages are and he may be somewhere between one unknown part of the world to another (Lucian-bookworm intuition. You never expect following the scenes like a Percy Jackson book) are just some of the miracles she'd made. That, and Ian was very grateful that she made Saladin like him. Oh, and a change of a different but still manly perfume.
The surprise is: she did all these in the same day. That, and she didn't mind the Chinese takeout (as long as she picks) and washing (she can do it old-fashioned, and it won't leave her breathless, and she would only wash her own clothes).
After another long report about a Vesper sighting in Japan shortened into important tidbits and a summary for the Cahill vault, she decided to take a little nap in her room. She can't exactly sleep on the couch at the CC, even if her wardrobe consisted of mostly jeans, flats and t-shirts or her attitude is definitely more Madrigal ("Daniel-ish," Ian would call it) than Lucian. She was walking along the corridor, reading one of the many books present in the library when she heard an echoing shhhhnk.
She almost dropped her book. Goosebumps appeared all over her body as she thought of the possibilities. Someone trying to steal from the weapon vault, someone trying to get someone kidnapped, the 'someone' being a Vesper, the someone being Isabel Vesper-Hollingsworth…
She ran towards the source of the sound. As she had been running with books in tow in order to get the books first before anyone else ever since she was young, she ran up to Ian's room and paused. How could she ever defend herself if the only possible weapon in her arsenal is a very thick book in the mansion's library? That, and she knows she can't kick butt as well as the others, much less than Evan. She would have to improvise the entire time then.
She slammed the door open because of the sudden adrenaline rush and slammed into Ian, who was on the bed.
"Ian!" she screamed (good thing she was a little hoarse, but not that terribly).
"What?" the annoyed elder-acting Lucian asked her.
"Did I just slam the Vesper in the wall? And knock him out pretty good?" she asked, suddenly very cheerful she had knocked out a Vesper under her CCC Firsts. Ian just looked at her in confusion.
"No," he said as he pushed her off him, making her sit on the bed. He didn't technically push her; she would be all fangirl-mode when she was touched by him, so she immediately backed away and sat opposite him. "Unfortunately, you just slammed into me and good thing I wasn't flattened into a Lucian pancake."
"Sorry," she said while looking towards the side. Even if she was confident that time, she would actually have melted into oblivion right then and there. His clothes were a bit unkempt and his fair is a bit ruffled, as if he pulled it to its roots and that he had an expression of contempt in his face.
What was the one thing that was making him so angry? the agent thought. No way it could have been…
She stood up and walked gracefully out the door. Before she closed it, she looked at him and gave him a small smile.
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It was 10:30pm and it was the end of one long day in the CCC. The newbie agent in the hallway was now on her way to her room. As she stretched her arms after hours and hours of Cahill duties (both for the fate of the world and everyone in the mansion), she thought about whatever happened earlier that afternoon. The knife, his unkempt expression…
She shook her head. No time figuring out Ian…that's just as complicated as anything else around here.
She then went to the shower and relaxed herself, making the cold water wash the stress away. Wrapped in a towel, she dressed in the same shower. She then came out with her hair wrapped in the same towel, but wearing a t-shirt with a Lucian symbol printed above her right breast and the words "be passionate" beside it and a pair of pajama pants. She then collapsed on the bed and slept, unknowing that someone just sneaked in.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Ian decided to take a break from the usual Cahill drama. Actually, he should have referred it as normal, since he experienced most of these things when he was a part of the Lucian empire. Compared to back then, he was (and is) and outcast and ignored of his real feelings but at least it was definitely more…enjoyable.
The agent (she can't tell her name and Amy outlawed looking at others' agent files) was doing a good job. That, and she really understood him. Maybe this is what happens to softies—no—real Cahills. He smiled honestly for the second time. He looked at his watch, one of his few possessions from being a son of two horrible magnates, and it was her time-off. He then turned to her room and knocked.
"Hey, it's me, Ian," he called out. After a moment of waiting for her to open the door, he picked it and went inside.
The room was the same room all the guest rooms had, except that there was her only luggage (a grey travel stroller with some clothes picked out by some Janus-Madrigal agents), two pairs of ballerina flats (her only shoes that she wore lots of times, she really likes flats) and of course, the agent herself, sprawled on the bed, her hair a black mess with some of Amy's books perched precariously on the small bedside drawer. Also, the room was dark, lit only by the moonlight seeping through the curtain-covered glass door leading to the balcony.
She was actually sweating, not because she was hot, but because she isn't used to sleeping without an electric fan to keep her warm. He wouldn't risk opening the glass door because of the whole Vesper threat (besides the occasional rapist and/or robber), so the only thing he did was relieve herself of the soft blanket her body was covered.
She was wearing a t-shirt with the Lucian crest below her right shoulder and the words "live passionately" in plain next to it. Also, she was wearing a light blue pajama pants with a teddy bear design in them. Her body relaxed instantly after the blanket was removed. A smile was on her face and she turned towards the window. He stroked his hair lightly, careful of not waking her up, knowing that if he did he would receive a even more painful blow than the tackle earlier.
As he paused as he took in her very peaceful appearance, he couldn't help himself. He was falling for yet another girl, who painstakingly reminded him of Amy. He shook his head and set it aside. Having a relationship is as serious as taking care of this Vesper business. He spots a notebook and a pen on the desk near the balcony's entrance and starts to write under the moonlit light.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-