Prompt: #40 Online
Summary: There are some things you just should not publish.
A/N: This takes place in The Eclipse Series. Just what did the boys do that afternoon before the wedding.
Annecto is Latin for "to connect".
Annecto
"It isn't that I don't trust you."
"Here we go," utters a sarcastic voice.
"It's just that if you mess this up..."
"We're screwed?" is the helpful, though dry reply.
"Well, Noct here would always take the fall," is suggested.
"So why am I the only one not nervous?" Noctis asks with his eyebrows raised at the complainer.
"I'm not nervous!"
"You're rambling," points out Vires.
"I always ramble," Des says to defend himself.
"Not as fast as when you're nervous," adds Sapien, tapping away at the small console that they are all awkwardly looking at together. Not that any of them could understand what he was doing. There were several screens of code that Sapien was typing quickly into and with rapid succession. None of them knew a thing about codes but it was always fascinating to watch Sapien at work.
"Okay so maybe I am a little worried," concedes Des.
"You're not the one that's going to get into trouble if we get caught," frowns Vires.
"Despite what you all might think," sniffs Des indignantly. "I do care if Noct gets into trouble."
"He won't," responds Sapien, with more quick typing.
"What do you think will happen if we get caught?" asks Des a little hesitantly.
"Where is your devious streak?" demands Vires.
"Where is the Des we know?" Noctis asks. "Who is this responsible Des that has replaced him?"
"Oh don't put it on me!" cries Des. "I'm thinking about the look on Stella's face if we get caught doing this."
There is a silence while they all contemplate this, but only Noctis is smirking. Stella knew better than to think that they would actually get caught. That was exactly why she had not tried to stop him in the first place.
"Well, she does pack quite a punch," comments Sol.
Yes, the evidence of her punch was currently turning his eye purple. The sunny bastard had put on make up in an attempt to cover it up before they had left the castle, but not enough apparently. He could see the the discoloring beneath the powdery substance on the other man's face.
"She did not protest when I told her I would seek revenge," Noctis says darkly. "Besides, they insinuated that she was a whore and I will not have that."
"Doesn't mean she'll approve either," adds Des. "All of you do realize that what we are doing is, more than illegal."
"Will you shut up already?" groans Vires. He can tell that his scarred friend is half tempted to plop Des on the side of the head.
"This is about Stella's reputation," says Sapien. "It's a good cause, so stop your blabbering."
"So sorry if I am worried about your safety," scoffs Des, folding his arms.
"You're just worried about your own hide, Bobble Head," comments Sol as he smiles kindly at two women that have passed them on the sidewalk. The four of them were trying to be incognito as Sapien typed the finishing touches of his program. For some reason he had to be within a certain distance from the building and could not do it from the castle.
"So much for not drawing attention to ourselves," mutters Des.
"You're just jealous that I can still get the ladies even with a shiner," retorts Sol with a graceful nod at the giggling ladies as they both turn around to get one last look at him. "And you could put away your ridiculous sunglasses. If they haven't recognized that stringy stuff you call hair, the sunglasses would have caught their eye. Besides, I'm sure you'll be the talk of the town."
"Wouldn't want to take away your thunder," Des says smartly.
"As if you could," replies Sol with a roll of his eyes.
"I'm done," says Sapien. He pulls out a mini USB and puts the mini console into a bag slung over his shoulder. He looked like a student at a university with the clothes and bag he was donning.
"Does everyone remember what they have to do?" he asks. It is a needless question but someone has to ask it and it might as well be him.
"Mine is the most straight forward," comments Vires.
He knows Vires wants to say, the least fun role but he knows he is the best and fastest driver of the group. Besides, his unmarked, untraceable van was not to driven by anyone but himself.
"Now Des, make sure you do not...," he has a hard time finding the right words.
"They already know what you look like so don't be stupidly obvious," finishes Sol for him.
Unlike him, Sol has no scruples about hurting Des' feelings. Which was unlikely anyway, considering nothing Sol said would ever hurt Des' feelings. He has a feeling that Sol knows this already, but it does not stop him. If anything, Des was incredibly easy to bait.
"I am never stupidly obvious!" cries Des.
"No, just regular obvious," retorts Vires.
"I am a good actor," reassures Des, pointedly ignoring Vires' comment.
"Are you telling me that all this time you were pretending to act like a fool?" asks Sol with mock astonishment.
"Why? Were you fooled?" asks Des with an equally mocking eagerness in his face.
"Well knock me over with a feather," feigns Sol with a batting of his eyes.
Vires snorts and Sapien shakes his head. Noctis merely smiles.
"Yeah and you can gag me with a spoon the next time you try and give me the eye, Sunshine," warns Des.
"A fine specimen such as myself would not deign to submit himself to one such as you if he preferred the masculine variety," retorts Sol.
Vires rolls his eyes and Des snorts boisterously.
"Is that why I catch you giving Noctis the eye?" asks Des.
"And just why are you watching me in the first place?" asks Sol, not the least bit ruffled by the accusation.
"Someone has to keep an eye on you," shrugs Des but a sly grin. "Who knows who you'll try to seduce next."
Sol scoffs indignantly. "I don't 'try' anything. I am always met with success."
The man really had a flourish for this kind of exchange. Des was the only one of them that would rise to the challenge consistently. He wonders if they could both keep it up all day if they were allowed.
"I beg to differ!"
"Do you even know what that means?" asks Sol.
"I'm not entirely stupid," says Des.
"That is possibly the smartest thing you have ever said. 'Not entirely stupid' as opposed to 'completely stupid'?"
"Save it," states Sapien, bringing them all back to attention.
"Are you ready?" asks Noctis with a smirk that wants to be a smile at the exchange that was just halted.
"The whole lot of you are too easy to bait," Sol comments with a smirk. "Getting a rise out of you has always been enjoyable." Then he looks over at Sapien. "Well except that one, he does not seem human."
"I'm actually a robot that Des built in his basement," comments Sapien dryly, as he finishes typing in a few commands on his handheld. "Now, shall we get started?"
Sapien looks at Noctis expectantly. He has the urge to roll his eyes about having to be the one who had to be the grown up, but manages to look at Des and Sol seriously.
"Will you both remember that you are supposed to be pretending and are not actually trying to hurt each other?"
"We're professional," reassures Des.
"Absolutely," drawls Sol with a small shrug.
"Not too much," reminds Sapien.
"Don't you trust me?" asks Des with mock offense.
"Recipe for trouble," comments Vires as he drives them towards a small alleyway near the target building. There was a twinkle of mischief in Des' eyes and they all knew what that meant.
"Well then it is just as well that I live for trouble," retorts Sol.
"Hey Sunshine, I have got the best idea," says Des.
"I am all ears," reassures Sol and it is hard to tell whether he is sincere or not.
Sapien and Noctis step out of the van together. Neither one of them get to hear Des' best idea before the door is shut and the van is already moving.
"If they get caught?" asks Sapien, as they both stand a moment to stare as the van turns the corner and out of sight.
"At least we know where they will be taken," comments Noctis.
"Knowing Goldie, he'll want that publicity," retorts Sapien with a smirk.
He smirks. "Ready?" asks Noctis, as the two of them started to focus on the task at hand.
"Ready," replies Sapien and they both disappear in a shattering of crystals.
They reappear on the top of the building.
"When they're ready, we have to be here," says Sapien, pointing to a dot on his handheld.
"Got it," answers Noctis. "We are ready."
"Walking towards the lobby now," says Des. "Watch the collar Hot Pants. This shirt was expensive."
"Then I shall enjoy this," answers Sol before they hear a scuffling sound and the sharp sounds of slaps being exchanged. There are dragging sounds with shouts of protests which tells them that Sol must have Des in some sort of lock and was hauling him towards the building's lobby.
"I might have to hack into their video feed later," states Sapien. "I kinda wish I could see this."
"Me too," he agrees.
"Get your orange painted mitts off me!" demands Des loudly.
"Like I would let a perfectly good spray tan go to waste on you," retorts Sol.
Their voices have started to echo, which meant they had reached the front desk of the lobby.
"Girl or Boy as the receptionist?" wagers Sapien quickly.
"Girl," he smirks, just before they both hear a young feminine voice ask if Sol and Des needed any help.
"Yes, you may." Sol's voice is all charm and flirtations. He is sure he is giving the poor girl a heart attack with his smile too. Stella and Procella seemed to be the only two women in the world that were immune. "I am sure you have read this morning's article, featuring yours truly?"
They hear a grunt of pain and a short scuffle where they assume Des has made another attempt at dislodging himself from Sol's grip. Des actually hollers out in pain after another smack and they miss what the receptionist says in reply.
"You see, Doll," continues Sol as if he had not been interrupted. "My picture was rather unflattering. This fiend here," there is a pause as if he takes a moment to motion towards Des. Fiend was said a in particularly disdainful manner. "Had the audacity to say that my nose looked too big."
"Your nose did look too big you hairless ape!" cries Des.
"Ready?" Noctis asks Sapien.
Sapien nods and they both disappear with another flash of shattered crystal.
"Do you recognize this fellow?" Sol asks. There is another pause and given the lack of verbal response, he is left to assume that the receptionist merely nods. "Then I do not have to explain. I would like to speak to your editor, as I plan on filing a complaint for defamation of character."
Des snorts rather loudly. "Defamation of your nose!"
"That and I would also claim that this hoodlum threatened my person," Sol claims dramatically. "Just look at the amount of foundation I had to apply to try and cover this." He must have pointed to his eye then because the receptionist makes a sound that sounds like a gasp of outrage for Sol's sake. Trust the Sunny Man to garner symphony so quickly.
"Nothing you didn't deserve," Des shamelessly declares.
There is more scuffling and who knows what other jabs would have been sent if the Crystal Toxin Warning Alarm had not gone off at that moment.
"What's this?" cries Sol with an indignant voice. "I am to be poisoned as well as marred? Yes, you shall definitely be hearing from my council."
There is the sound of rushing bodies as everyone evacuates onto the street in response to the blaring alarms going off all around the large building.
"Forgetting something!" shouts Des.
"Not at all," claims Sol and there is the sound of air getting knocked out of someone's lungs. There is no telling who it was until…
"That's it! I am sabotaging your shampoo!" warns Des. It sounds like he is holding his nose.
"Do you even know what that is?" retorts Sol. Then he speaks specifically for the others listening in. "We're out."
"We're online," responds Sapien.
"Meet you are the rendezvous point," Noctis says before he and Sapien are gone again.
There is the sound of many rushing bodies and one can surmise that they are waiting until they are a safe distance away before they speak again.
"Bobble Head, when under pressure you really do lose any wit you may have," comments Sol not too kindly.
"I told you I was nervous!" cries Des.
"The all foolish Des has forgotten how to be a fool?"
"You had it covered," says Des and he can hear the shrug in his voice.
The both of them jump into the white van quickly before the van is in motion again to reach Sapien and Noctis at another spot. Both of whom join them in the vain as calmly as they had exited a few minutes before. All the while Des and Sol keep up their argument.
"Of course I did. I do not fall flat under pressure," comments Sol with a roll of his eyes.
"I probably wouldn't either if I had that much gel in my hair," retorts Des.
"You might want to get some of your own since Noctis needs all the wax he can obtain to get his hair that way," Sol says with a flickering glance towards Noctis. Noctis merely rolls his eyes in response. "You could do with a comb too, seeing as you haven't discovered one yet."
"The ruffled look is endearing, I'll have you know."
"For a simpleton," Sol adds.
"Okay, now I am confused," Des says with his most baffled look. "First you admit to giving Noctis the eye and now you're saying I'm endearing?"
It was an obvious bait and Sol did not disappoint.
"I admitted nothing. While you on the other hand, admitted to giving me the eye," Sol gave Des a crooked look. "Is that why you're constantly fighting with Vires? Is that your foreplay?" He retorts and he does not even seem to care that he has upset Vires with that latest jab.
Des sputters indignantly while Vires looks like he may give Sol a matching shiner on the other eye. Sol continues to look unaffected and almost relaxed, even a little smug. The pretty man really had no regard for his face.
"Now, Des' basement robot," says Sol, dismissing Vires and Des. "Can we say mission accomplished?"
"You can tell me next week," Sapiens says blandly.
"Hope so because Sunshine ripped off one of my buttons," complains Des.
"I assure you I did nothing of the sort," says Sol. "You have no idea how to maintain your clothes."
"Was it a little too mean?" Noctis asks, suddenly feeling pensive and looking at Des.
"My manly chest would be too much for the ladies like this," Des continues, ignoring Sol.
"Well, just think about it this way," says Sapien to Noctis. "They should have been more careful when selecting articles that defame their soon to be queen." They both look at Des. "He's going to get a kick out of it."
Noctis doubts Stella would be too upset to see her slanderers sent into a media scandal, but she might do more than raise an eyebrow when she found out. He hopes that she will be amused.
"Even if you had a manly chest, I doubt it'd be better than mine," Sol says confidently as he and Des continue their snide exchanges without pausing to hear what the others are saying.
"I don't know," says Des. "I don't wax my hair off."
"Perhaps you should," comments Sol with a look of horror as he watches Des open his shirt.
"That actually sounds like an idea," agrees Sapien as he scrunches his nose at the sight.
"Hey!"
"Does that mean I have to spare some of my wax?" asks Noctis with a raised eyebrow.
Vires snorts, Sapien smirks, Des scoffs and Sol smiles a very wicked smile.
"Don't even think about it!" cries Des with a genuinely horrified expression on his face this time.
A week later, when the coverage of his wedding to Stella had finally eased, their plan was revealed to an amused Stella. His ingenious wife had asked an equally amused Procella to remember to save her the magazine issues released during the weeks that they had been away on their honeymoon and had flipped through the issues as soon as they had arrived back in Nihilsomno. When she had caught sight of the cover she had slapped her hand over her mouth to stop the burst of laughter that had almost escaped her beautiful mouth. He walks over to kiss her lightly on the forehead as she giggles into his chest.
"I should not ask the how so I am not going to," she says softly as her hand comes up to cling to his collar to pull him closer.
"That is good because I could not have told you," he smirks, running a hand through her hair. "That would be Sapien's area of expertise."
She chuckles with a nod. "Was this Des' idea?"
"In a way," he says vaguely. "Sol refined the idea."
Stella does laugh then and it makes him chuckle with her.
"To think," she says, pulling back to look up at his face. "At one time I thought you would be the one that killed Sol."
"I might have," he winks at her. "But Sol and I have an understanding now."
His wife gives him a smirk of her own.
"I wonder if Des was at all upset," she wonders.
"I doubt it," he says confidently. "He can never complain about never being on the cover of a magazine."
"How is this revenge?" she asks a bit confused. "It looks more like a prank on Des."
"That is the beauty of it," he says. "Every time they mean to publish a demeaning article on my wife, their cover page will automatically change to a picture of a half naked Des."
"Will he always be in a speedo?" Stella says with a barely contained laugh.
"They hope so," he answers with a smirk.
End Note:
For anyone that has not already read Noctum Will Rise, The Eclipse Series or Adventum Aduro, I have provided a cast list/playbill of everyone on my LJ.