Chapter 24: Paying the Piper
An Heiress, a future general, a stray, a vigilante and a mouse all sit aboard a Bullhead… It honestly sounds like the start of a bad joke or the plot of a B-movie, but reality is often stranger than fiction. Currently, the four members of Team VIEW and Professor Basil were sitting in silence seated on a Bullhead going from Mantle to Atlas. The only noise filling the cabin was the quiet hum of the engine outside and the irritated tapping of Basil's foot.
Viralious glanced around the cabin of the Bullhead and looked to the rest of his team. Eckhart held a stoic face seemingly hiding his nerves behind a wall of confidence. Winter was trying to do the same but failing at the concept of being in trouble… Ifiral… Ifiral just looks bored out of his mind.
Basil suddenly clears her throat and addresses the four of them, "So who wants to explain why you were running through Mantle at…" Basil glances at her scroll, "2 in the morning?" Her tone is icy and shows no hint of the normally shy mouse professor.
Ifiral is the first to respond, "A rave."
"Bullshit." Basil deadpans.
"What makes you say that?" Viralious asks playing along with Ifiral's bluff hoping to save their skin.
"You have your weapons." Basil replies looking them in the eyes.
"Mantle is dangerous, besides a huntsman is never far from their weapon." Eckhart jumps in.
"You're in your combat outfits." Basil says pointing to Winter.
"Do you think Winter or Viralious have proper rave gear? Me and Eckhart went like this to make them feel more comfortable." Ifiral bullshits.
Basil facepalms before looking Winter straight in the eyes, "Winter, since these chuckle-fucks are not cooperating what were you four doing out this late at night?" Her tone is militant.
Winter glances around the room looking in each of her teammates eyes before deadpanning, "We were at a rave, professor."
Basil lets out an exasperated sigh, "They are a bad influence on you, Winter."
"I disagree." Winter and Viralious both say in unison.
Basil then looks at all four of them, "So If you were really at a rave tonight… Where was it at?"
"Warehouse district." Viralious says quickly.
"Well then, I could have a fun night partying, let's go back there." Basil gives a mischievous smirk before starting to stand.
"No!" Winter calls out.
"Why wouldn't you all want to go back to the rave? Did you not have fun?" Basil says mischievously.
"We were kinda kicked out…" Eckhart says quickly.
Basil gives a deep sigh… "I know you went to the warehouse district and came from the Old Atlas quarter… that and there are no raves there tonight… Believe me, if there were you would be with Robyn and May currently."
"Shit." Viralious says taking in that information.
"So I will ask again. What were you doing in the warehouse district at 2 AM… Running from someone with a katana?" Basil asks.
All four members are silent before Viralious looks her in the eye "Investigating Meteion…"
This gets each of his team's members eyes to bug out. Basil on the other hand looks completely unphased.
"Hmph, so if that's the case… Ifiral, what were you doing going out alone?" the mouse professor asks militantly.
Ifiral is silent for a few moments before responding "… Getting revenge, Professor."
Basil nods, "See, telling the truth isn't that hard…" She then smiles slightly, "That being said, you four need to work on your lying skills. After all, it fell apart with only a small bit of prodding."
"Are you sure you want to be telling us that, teach?" Viralious asks earnestly.
"Yes." Basil deadpans before adjusting her hair, "So let me piece tonight together for you… First, you three follow Ifiral out on one of his forays into Mantle, somehow you end up meeting Meteion and he does something stupid forcing you to call for emergency evac and were chased by that swordsman." Basil says in a scholarly tone.
All four of them look at Basil in shock before Winter asks, "Professor Basil… is your semblance mind reading?"
This gets the mouse professor to laugh, "No but it would make my job a hell of a lot easier… but you asking that question proved I hit the nail on the head."
Winter looks back flustered after accidently giving away her team's evening. None of her team looks that mad though so she calms down. Viralious steps forward, "Professor, if I must ask… why are you the one picking us up?"
"We were closer to the emergency signal." Basil lies.
Ifiral looks shocked before responding, "That's impossible since the signal was sent on emergency Sherfira channels. Only their shuttles should have seen it."
With that, the first of Basil's lies was apparent. She cleared her throat, "They asked for assistance."
"That breaks company protocol." Ifiral deadpans.
"Does it fucking matter?" Basil says anger rising.
"Yes." Viralious says stepping forward, "No offense, but this seems a little fishy… What were you doing out late at night Professor?"
Basil stands there a few moments obviously stalling for time before quickly responding, "As your professor I cannot answer that question for I would lose my Job… Please drop it." She says faking embarrassment.
Viralious' face goes red at the implication before quickly looking away… "I see… how about we just forget toni-"
"Don't even try to finesse that one, Viralious." Basil deadpans. Suddenly the pilot speaks up
"We're about 5 minutes from the academy, sir… Do you want us to land there?"
Basil thinks for a moment before responding, "No, I need more time to… question these four… Proceed to drop site H." her tone is unsure.
Eckhart whispers to the rest of his team, "That's not ominous at all."
"I heard that." Basil deadpans before clearing her throat, "Now then, the most important thing about tonight… It never happened. You never saw me, you never attacked Metetion, you never got in a Bullhead, you simply stayed in your dorm and had a team bonding night. And you sure as hell are not going to mention anything else that happens tonight to ANYONE! Is that clear?" Her tone is purely militaristic.
Viralious looks at the rest of his team confused for a few moments before asking the obvious question, "Why?"
Basil looks at him earnestly and the veil cracks slightly, "Because th-the general w-would expel you all."
Viralious raises an eyebrow, Ifiral grimaces, and Winter and Eckhart look like they are about to have a full-blown panic attack. Viralious sighs, "I appreciate it but truth is hiding this from the headmaster is a big offense, it could even cost you your job if it came to light… So why would you take the risk for Team VIEW? Why would you lie for us?"
Basil looks him clear in the eyes keeping a straight face but in her eyes, he can see the truth… She fucked up and overextended. Sighing she turns away and says curtly, "That is classified, Mr. Rose." her tone is oddly sad.
This catches Viralious off guard, first the mention that she would straight up tell them that it is classified and second that she would mention his last name. He blinks once before looking back at the mouse professor, "Alright I understand…"
Basil gives a soft nod before suddenly the Bullhead lands and the pilot's voice echoes through the cabin, "Please disembark, I'll be waiting here to take them back."
"Thank you, feel free to get some rest while you wait. This could be a minute." Basil says opening the door on the Bullhead. She then beckons for the rest of Team VIEW to follow her out.
Stepping out of the Bullhead, Viralious and Winter are surprised when they see a house instead of a hangar. Turning to the mouse professor, the question they are about to ask must be obvious, "Welcome to my house… No, this is not going to become a normal thing… I just feel like it would be best to give you a punishment before you get back and the chance of the General catching you is higher."
"Is this legal?" Winter asks.
"Yes, unless I proposition you… but ask yourself if what you all did tonight was legal… Spoiler alert: no." Basil shoots back unlocking the door.
Stepping inside there… There are a lot fewer plants than they were expecting, the furniture is a nice shade of white and the carpet is a soft blue. It looks extremely plain as the only picture or wall decoration is a flipped over painting only showing the backside.
"I mostly stay at the teacher housing at the academy, I only really come here on the weekends." Basil says walking towards the kitchen. She reaches into the second cupboard on the left pulling out five glasses and sets them on the island. She then reaches into the fridge and pulls two bottles out. First looks to be simple flavored water and the second is… extremely strong vodka.
She motions for them all to take a seat across from her at the Island and pours five glasses of the flavored water and sets the vodka down on the table. After they sit down, she reaches under the island and pulls out five shot glasses, setting them down on the table with a clink.
"S-so I n-n-ne-need to think of a g-g-good punishment for y-y-you that I can k-k-keep under w-wr-wraps…" Basil says returning to her normal demeanor and thinking for a moment before snapping her fingers and looking at them all, "A-as y-you know… I-I w-was a-a-appointed the t-tem-temporary st-stu-student co-coun-counselor… I th-think th-that a thirty mi-min-minute me-meeting with e-each of y-you ev-every mo-monday and fr-friday woul-would be a fitting p-punishment." Basil says before breathing in deeply and finding hidden confidence, "That, and Ifiral will be barred from leaving the campus until further notice… as for the rest of you each of you will have to report exactly why you are leaving campus to me for approval." She says before taking a sip of her water.
Ifiral and Viralious are about to protest before Basil cuts them off, "This is non-negotiable, I am making this as lenient as I can… if you would prefer, I could tell the General and have you all arrested for unlicensed huntsmen work and vigilantism, who knows what other charges they would drum up."
All four members of Team VIEW sit there in silence before Viralious nods, "Alright… But I have a question, Professor. Why did you bring us to your home? We could have just had the Bullhead circle around for a few minutes." his tone is one of confusion.
Basil smirks and picks up the bottle of vodka, "Because it's time you all start learning to ask the right questions." her tone is cold but somehow comforting at the same time.
"W-What exactly do you mean?" Winter asks nervously.
"Relax, each of you will only ever have one shot of this stuff… We're going to take turns asking questions. You must answer truthfully or else you take the shot. Once you take the shot you have to return to the Bullhead and wait until the last person finishes. Also, you cannot discuss with each other before asking a question." Her tone is catty.
"That's heavily weighted in your favor." Eckhart says.
"Which is why I have to stay until the last one of you leaves… But you get to keep asking me questions."
Viralious thinks for a minute, "So it's a game of endurance… We have to survive you asking us questions, and then ask you questions you don't want to answer to get you to drink, making your lips looser." he says understandingly.
Basil gives a nod, "Now if you don't want to play that's fine, just go step into the Bullhead."
All four members of Team VIEW look at each other before Viralious asks, "Can we have a moment to discuss this amongst ourselves?"
"Go for it." Basil says reaching for one of the shot glasses and pouring the vodka into it. Winter notices that she's applying extra pressure to the midpoint of the bottle as she pours.
The four members of Team VIEW all huddle together hoping that Basil can't hear them.
"This is a little sketchy and definitely illegal." WInter says breaking the silence.
"Agreed, I don't like this either…" Eckhart says, crossing his arms.
"I'm sensing a but there." Viralious chimes in.
"But it's our best chance to find out what the professor's angle is." Eckhart nods.
"She's hiding something obviously… and she expects us to not take the bait…" Ifiral says earning a nod from the rest of his team.
"Should we discuss what happened tonight before agreeing on the terms?" Winter asks glaring at Ifiral.
"Maybe how can we know to trust-" Eckhart starts.
"Enough!" Viralious says pulling them from the start of the argument, "Ifiral will have a lot to explain when we get back to the dorms BUT we're a dust forsaken team! Put on a united front when facing Basil." he turns his head and looks to the mouse professor.
"Fine." Eckhart says with a sigh. Winter nods her head. Ifiral nods and mouths thank you to Viralious. Sighing, Viralious turns back to the rest of his team, "Basil is probably my favorite professor and has helped me the most here. She's the one who helped me design the poison diffusion system for my weapon, but she's oddly always looked out for our team… I want to figure out why." His tone is confused.
"I don't know that it's our team Viralious… I think it's just you." Ifiral pipes up.
This only gets a nod from Viralious before he responds, "I'm going to play her game."
"I will too." Ifiral says, "There's a lot of unknowns we need answered."
"Viralious remember when I told you I would call out your stupid ideas… Well, this is one of them…" Eckhart says before smirking, "I'm in."
Winter glances around before hanging her head down… "I would like to join but I don't feel comfortable with drinking alcohol that a professor has given me in their home… what if it has been spiked or poisoned."
Viralious puts an arm on her shoulder giving it a comforting squeeze before looking her in the eyes, "I understand, I doubt she would go that far though…" He then turns back to Basil and asks a simple question, "Would I be able to drink for Winter… her family has a history of alcoholism and wouldn't like to risk it." he says, lying through his teeth.
The mouse professor examines them for a moment before nodding, "I-I d-don't w-wa-want to g-get anyone ad-addi-addicted to a-any-anything so th-that is f-f-fine …" her tone is compassionate but shy obviously having caught her off-guard.
"Thank you." Viralious responds and Winter smiles before they turn back to the group. "Okay, so I'm going to say we might want to channel Celica for this." Viralious says with a groan.
"Why?" Winter asks, confused.
"Cause she's the queen of making people uncomfortable with questions… I highly doubt Professor Basil will want to answer questions based on her sex life." Viralious says getting flustered.
"I think we shouldn't keep it toned down a little bit… Tread the waters carefully…" Winter responds also getting flustered.
"I agree." Ifiral says
"Same here." Eckhart responds.
"Alright, I'll keep them… uh rated Teen I guess." Viralious says
"Some simple M rated questions would be fine but for the love of all that is holy don't ask her if she wants a fivesome." Ifiral jokes. This earns a slap from Winter and a shove from Viralious in response.
"I deserve that one." Ifiral deadpans.
"Yeah, you do." Viralious and Winter respond with a bit of anger burning in their tone.
"If we're all in agreement then it's best we start instead of delaying…" Eckhart says.
"Alright, let's try and get as much out of this as possible. If a question comes up that you don't want to answer, take the shot and walk out… I'm not asking for you guys to be uncomfortable for the sake of asking a few questions." Viralious addresses them in a serious tone. Winter is the first to nod before Ifiral and Eckhart follow suit.
Breaking the huddle, the four end up taking their seats across from Basil, who has already poured the shots and placed them across from their seats. The mouse professor gives a smirk before pouring her shot and asking, "Are we ready to begin?"
"Yes. Who's going first?" Winter asks.
"You and there's your first question." Basil responds.
Winter gets an annoyed look on her face before rolling her eyes and taking a drink from the flavored water… It's oddly lemon flavored. Why not just use lemonade at that point?
"Eckhart, what's your mother's maiden name?" Basil asks.
"It's Slate, she didn't take my father's last name when they married…" He responds simply, "Now then Basil, why did you become a professor?"
Basil stops for a minute before answering, "I really like dust and figured I could do good teaching future huntsmen. That, and James approached me when Mr. Veronica announced his retirement to replace him." Her tone is a little nostalgic and earns a nod from Eckhart, "Now Ifiral, how many nights have you gone on these excursions."
Viralious winces So much for the easy questions.
Ifiral breathes in quietly and it looks like he's going to take the shot before answering, "Every other day since the Glass Gala… I lost count."
This earns a silent nod from Basil and a side eye from Winter and Eckhart. Ifiral then looks to the mouse professor, "How did you get our Bullhead pilot to break protocol?"
Basil closes her eyes and takes the first shot of the night, before pouring another one. She then eyes Viralious and asks, "What brought you to Atlas Viralious?"
"A disagreement with a professor at Shade… You already knew that though." He responds emotionlessly. Before channeling Celica for his first question, "I'll start simple, chicks or dicks?"
Even though Winter was expecting this, it still takes her off guard. Viralious felt a little scummy for asking but he knew if he wanted answer's she had to tak-
"Chicks, throw a hard one next time." Basil answers a lot quicker than anyone was expecting. This causes all four members of Team VIEW to go bug-eyed, they share a single thought
She really just told us that…Why?
Basil then smiles and says, "I'm pretty open with my preferences, now then Winter… Do you despise your father?"
Winter tenses up… out of all the questions she was expecting tonight this was not the one. She thinks for a minute and Viralious gives her a sympathetic look. Before she sighs, "No." her tone is one of defeat. She then looks the mouse professor in the eye before asking "What made you come up with this game?" her tone is hiding a bit of fury.
"It's something my favorite teacher did to me… that and I figured it would be a great way to get an initial reading on you before your first counseling sessions" her tone is nostalgic and bears hints of truth.
Winter nods slightly before the mouse professor turns to Eckhart, "Eckhart… do you think your mother made a mistake marrying your father?"
Eckhart looks at the mouse professor for a few moments barely hiding anger stewing beneath… he seems like he's going to explode on her before he grabs the shot glass, downs it in one go. He then stomps out of the room and boards the Bullhead.
Viralious glances around the room, the three members of Team VIEW look at the mouse professor with scorn while she seems to be sinking further into herself. Ifiral is the first to respond, "Does that make you feel good? Pushing your students away like that?" He's barely hiding fury.
The mouse professor looks down and seems smaller than ever before quietly squeaking out, "N-no… I d-didn't think that… I'm sorry I-I h-have to apologize…" She slowly sinks into herself while speaking.
All four take a deep breath, Winter texts Eckhart on his scroll and explains that Basil didn't mean to set him off… he simply responds with, 'Whatever, just get some damn good information from her.'
Basil breathes in before looking sorrowfully at Viralious and asks, "Will you help me apologize to Eckhart?"
Viralious gives a nod, "Yeah, just try not to bring up his father… He really seems to hate the guy." his tone is compassionate before clearing his throat and asking his question, "Why did you change weapons?"
Basil sighs and takes her second shot. She then looks at Ifiral and asks, "Kaine speaks highly of you… what's your relation to her?"
"Sister-in-law." Ifiral grumbles getting raised eyebrows from Viralious and Winter. All eyes then go to Winter as it's her turn, "You seem to have mixed feelings about the SDC… Why is that?"
Basil sighs before answering, "Well it's pretty obvious, I'm a faunus so their treatment of faunus naturally makes me a little angry, but truth is I don't hate them… I just wish that it didn't have a tarnished reputation like that." Basil then looks Winter in the eye and turns the question on her, "What about you, Winter, how do you feel about the SDC?"
"I think there are things that do need improvement… The treatment of our faunus workers is one of those things… but it doesn't need to be burned down… My grandfather put in a lot of work, and I want to restore that image." Winter responds truthfully.
Basil gives a nod before looking at Ifiral awaiting his question.
Ifiral thinks for a minute before asking, "What were you doing in Mantle?"
Basil takes another shot. She then shoots back, "Do you believe in destiny?"
"No." Ifiral says quickly.
Viralious is next, "Why were you on the Bullhead that picked us up? Only way to get it would be to intercept the signal."
Basil takes her second shot in less than a minute, "Viralious, have you told your team about your last name?"
Viralious shakes his head "No… Only Winter, I haven't told them yet as I currently need to re-earn my right to bear it."
Winter finishes her glass of flavored water before setting it back down on the table. "Forgive me for asking, but what are your opinions on Professor Makoto and Professor Cinnamon."
Basil goes white as a sheet before downing a third shot quickly earning a smirk from Viralious.
I guess that rumor is true…
Basil gives Winter a death glare before saying, "I should give you detention for that one." She then shakes her head and looks back to Ifiral, "Why did you help that faunus girl a few weeks ago?"
Ifiral goes white, the implication isn't lost on him… Basil had known about these excursions for a while… but why was she asking about Velvet. His mind ran a million miles per hour, and he couldn't formulate a good response so instead he just pulled the shot glass to his mouth and downed it quickly. Looking disappointed he sets it down and walks to the Bullhead.
Viralious and Winter share a look… they really were getting nowhere but they were too deep to stop now. Sighing, Viralious asked his next question, "If it was team CARD that came out tonight would you have done the same thing?"
Basil takes her shot. It's evident from how her face no longer grimaces from the alcohol that she's getting at the very least buzzed. She then looks at Winter and shyly asks "wh-what are y-your op-opinion of f-faun-faunus?"
"I have zero problems with them." Winter answers instantly; she then looks the professor in her eyes and asks, "Why do you not want the general to know about tonight."
Basil takes another shot. Before pausing… she thinks to herself.
Damnit, they're starting to ask the right questions… I need to get at least Winter out of here fast… How can I… I know I need to channel a certain hyperactive squirrel faunus… or I can just be blunt like Lute.
"W-w-winter… wo-would you date a m-member of y-your t-t-t-team?" Basil asks, starting to slur a bit.
Winter freezes like a deer in headlights, she looks around nervously before sighing "Viralious take the shot." she then exits, hanging her head low. Her neck getting red as she exits the mouse professor's house.
Viralious looks back to his partner as she exits with a frown on his face… Why does that create a pit in my stomach? He thinks before grabbing the shot glass meant for Winter, knocking it back he takes in the drink… It's not vodka, it's the same flavored water that was in the cups before them. Putting the pieces together he asks the first question that came to his mind, "All of the shots were just flavored water, weren't they?"
Basil smirks, "Guilty as charged… I'm not going to risk my job giving underaged students alcohol." she then hands him the bottle of vodka with the lid unscrewed, the stench of alcohol is easily there, "If It makes you feel better, I am actually drinking vodka…" Viralious hands her back the bottle and prepares for her to ask her next question.
"Who's your favorite professor?" she asks innocently.
"Either you or Lute." Viralious responds "You're not just a professor aren't you?"
Basil pauses and is about to answer before taking a shot, "Why do you want to know?"
"Just a feeling… this is all a little suspicious." He answers earnestly.
"Here's some free advice… often time following a feeling can either lead you right or get you killed… the truth is finding the correct in-between." Basil says.
Viralious thinks on her words for a minute before asking one of the most important questions of the night, "Why are you so interested in me?"
Basil gives a smirk before answering, "You've started asking the right questions, Viralious… it's because you have potential and remind me of myself." She half lies.
Viralious gives a hard sigh…
She's doing this because I remind her of herself… there has to be something else, but I cannot find any other fucking reasoning!
"If you don't mind me asking, have you told your teams about your uncle Viralious?" Basil asks earnestly looking down at the island.
Viralious is pulled from his thoughts by Basil's question he looks down at the table in shame, "No… not yet… I was planning on it, but the time never felt right."
Basil nods before responding, "It's good that you want to tell them but maybe wait until this cool's down before springing it on them."
Viralious nods before thinking clearly for a moment, "Wait I don't remember telling you about my uncle, how do you know?"
Basil goes white before taking a fast shot.
"Figures." Viralious sighs seeing that display.
"Sorry, I should answer that, but Ironwood told me to keep it a wraps." Basil says without thinking. She then coughs and looks at Viralious, "I do think it's getting late, and you should head back… I don't care if you share any information that I told you with your team."
"Sorry, teach, I'm not leaving until the game's over." Viralious says tapping the rim of his shot glass filled with the water.
Basil lets out a sigh, "Well then I guess I just have to ask you questions to make you leave…" She then gets a red in the face and her confidence melts away, "M-m-marry, f-f-fuck… ki-kill… Basil, M-a-Makoto or K-k-Kaine?"
Viralious pales instantly… his mind is racing.
Brothers dammit I have more questions to ask… this is going to cost me my dignity… Somehow this is Celica's fault.
Back at Atlas Academy, Celica sneezed before going back to snuggling with Delphi.
Viralious took a deep breath, "You only have yourself to blame for this one… in a purely hypothetical sense, in order Makoto/Cinnamon, You, then Kaine." Viralious says facepalming and screaming into his hands.
Basil looked at Viralious and her train of thought just crashed… She blinked looking down at her chosen pupil embarrassed before pouring an actual shot of vodka and handing it to him.
"We will never speak of this EVER!" her words hold only militaristic might.
"Speak of what?" Viralious says downing the shot quickly.
"Good." Basil says before starting to drink straight from the bottle.
"I have to ask, professor… Why that question?" Viralious asks.
"I thought we agreed to drop it?"
"That doesn't answer the question."
Basil sighs, "Because I figured you would have dignity and just leave… But good that you left that behind… Just need to abandon your morals as well and you're perfect for the job.
She then has an idea pop into her head… "What's your favorite grimm?"
Viralious raises an eyebrow… before thinking about the question… "I guess it would have to be the Geist… it reminds me of my mother's lemur." He responds nostalgically.
"Lemur? Like the fuzzy monkey thing?" Basil asks in confusion.
"No, it's like a ghost…"
"I think the correct word is 'lemure' not 'lemur'…" Basil responds in her teaching voice.
Viralious looks down embarrassed before mumbling, "I've been calling it a lemur for 12 fucking years, and no one corrected me…"
Basil gives a small laugh before nodding, "Cheer up… there are worse things to mix up… But I like your choice of favorite grimm. The Geist is my favorite and least favorite at the same time."
"Why's that?"
Basil doesn't respond; she just takes a shot of vodka and looks back solemnly. "Viralious…do you still trust me?"
Viralious thinks for a moment before answering, "Yes."
"I'm surprised." Basil responds earnestly.
"You shouldn't be, honestly this reminds me a bit of my uncle and mother's secret meetings with Ozpin… I was always watched by either Zeliska's tribe or Raven and Tai when that happened… I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm used to people hiding secrets from me." his tone is reminiscent of days long gone.
"That's a shame… that sadly never goes away." Basil says clutching her shot glass slowly swaying side to side, "You shouldn't trust Ozpin…" She blurts out without thinking.
Viralious raises an eyebrow, "Why?"
"Because headmasters shouldn't call upon their previous students for secret missions." Basil answers hoping to hide her outburst.
Viralious just gives a nod before thinking about her words.
"Do you regret coming to Atlas?" Basil asks glancing at the clock reading out 3:30 AM
"No…" Viralious said earnestly, "I think I figured something out about you Basil… Are you with the Atlassian special forces?" Viralious asks with a smirk.
Basil gives another smirk, "No and yes… It's up to you to parse that answer."
"Honestly, that's not the most confusing thing I've heard from a professor… I mean Tai yelling pivot moving a couch into a doorway doesn't really tell me shit." Viralious responds humorously.
Basil sighs before asking another question, "I really do think it's time you get going… So here's a question that I know you are not going to answer truthfully…" She says once again gets a red in the face and her confidence melts away, "M-m-marry, f-f-fuck… ki-kill Win-"
"I'm just going to take the shot to not have to deal with another one of those questions. Seriously… expect that kinda thing from Celica not you." Viralious says picking up the shot glass.
Back at Atlas, Celica sneezes again and is handed a handkerchief by Delphi.
Knocking the flavored water back, Viralious turns to Basil and says, "Thank you for not telling Ironwood about tonight… Have a good night and I wish you luck with that hangover in the morning." After that, Viralious walks out the door and boards the Bullhead.
Basil looks at him leaving and mutters out of earshot, "Geist's don't join… they die into it." before turning around and vomiting into the sink behind her.
Viralious boards the Bullhead and sees his team catching a small amount of sleep. Smirking, he walks up to the captain and lets him know everyone is on board and to take them back to the Academy. A few moments later the soft hum of the engine and the lift off of the bullhead had begun. Looking out the windshield Viralious looked at the shining city and sighed…
This night is going to be even longer… Especially after we get back to the dorms.
Even though Viralious normally had a bad track record for predicting the future with his team… he knew that this was a bet that everyone would take. For once he prayed to be wrong.
A/N
This chapter is mostly not actually in my planning document and just came to me on a whim. That being said, I am happy that it occurred as it lays quite a few of the pieces out on the table of the plot. A lot of hidden pieces are moving behind the scenes so getting them into the spotlight is important. We know the punishment that Team VIEW is going to have from this excursion, and we learn a bit more about Basil. and what she could possibly want Viralious to do. Overall, I really can't talk about much that occurred in this chapter without spoiling things. It's mostly just funny banter and lore dumps… but it was fun to write. We'll get back to the normally schedule angst in the next chapter when they actually have the conversation of the fuck just happened tonight. So, tune in next week for that.
Some of you may have noticed Basil doesn't have her stutter in most of this chapter, like in chapter 8, she's trying to hide it through faking confidence, but it does break out when she gets flustered or caught off guard.
Overall, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I would like to thank my editor, AmoebaHewdraw, who took a liking to the "lemur" and "lemure" gag.
AmoebaHewdraw's Note: More etymology fun facts! The name for the animal actually comes from "lemure!" IT COMES FULL CIRCLE. Also, I'm morbidly curious of what the three subjects of Basil's last question were gonna be…
Until Next Time Xcom Out
