I was simply staring at Joy, who was just… laying on her bed suggestively. Now, I had to work on Joy and Joy being herself decided that 'work' could mean many things.
"I'm… not joining you in bed." I said with a straight face and probably a vein that was about to burst from the absurdity of the situation.
Joy stretched like a cat while giving me a pouty expression, "Why not?~ The bed's comfy, and you need some rest from work~" She said huskily, which just made me suppress the need to punch her through a wall.
"No. Why are you like this?" I asked with a frown, wondering why she was trying to literally bed me while the Manager could watch.
She frowned before giving me a smile, "Is there a problem? I'm just a worried friend, trying to calm your nerves." Joy looked… offended? Well, more like she pretended to be.
"I'm literally going to shoot myself right now." My words were delivered with the dryness of the desert.
Shoot?
Not now.
Tch.
Did you just click your tongue at me!?
Joy hummed, "Running already?~" I'm… actually going to jump over a bridge. This is just too much bullshit to deal with in one day.
"In this particular moment? I wish." I said, while glancing away from Joy, who was still stretching in tempting positions.
Joy stared at me with a narrowed glare, "Come on… you are actually pretty stressed over something." She took a seat at the edge of the bed.
She gave a couple of pats with a small smile, telling me to sit next to her, "Come here, try relaxing with me for a bit." I gave her a sideways stare… before sighing and joining her, arms crossed on my chest.
"Yeah, I have some… problems to deal with, lots of issues that aren't easy to deal with and all that." Joy glanced at me and rubbed my back with a small smile.
"There, there, there… everything may seem complicated now, but all issues have their solutions. You just have to work hard and smart." Her smile was soft and comforting, her pats felt… surprisingly good.
I took a deep and calming breath and threw her a smile, "Was it so easy to tell I was stressed?" I actually wanted to know if I was a bit too obvious to read.
"You are good at keeping almost all of your emotions in check… except anger and frustration. Those are a bit more obvious on you." Joy said with a wink and a giggle at the end.
Huh… gotta work on that, "Yeah, that makes a bit too much sense. I can have… quite the temper." With various examples of said temper being shown.
Joy gave me a thumbs up, "That's fine. Showing some emotion once or twice is always good for the soul."
"I'm still not getting in bed with you."
"Party pooper."
We both laughed at that small interaction, I feel a bit more relaxed. My worries aren't completely gone, but it's a start.
I glanced at her once, "I know there are more of you, Magical Girls I mean. Knowing my luck, I would encounter them again… so a bit of extra information would be nice. If you are up for it, of course." Joy gave me a narrowed stare before nodding.
"Well, 'Love' was always the more eager of the four of us in any conflict, 'Finally, some villains to fight!' or 'Hurry up, we are needed!' She was always such a well-meaning busy body." She said with nostalgia, a somber smile plastered on her face.
Joy scratched her head while glancing away, "The moment things calmed down, she… lost it? It was like she needed conflict, 'A Hero always needs a Villain' she said, before turning into a dragon/snake with arms for ears."
Sighing to herself, she looked at the ceiling, "'Courage' was a shy little thing, always impartial no matter what and level-headed. She was the brains of the team… and then she made a friend of the enemy. I don't know how, or even why, but she left for the Azure Forest to talk with someone that wanted to just kill us all. She didn't know that at the time, though." Joy seemed… annoyed.
"So that old Hermit betrays 'Courage', an invasion happens, we win and 'Courage' was now a giant monster with corrosive axes for hands. She just stayed in the forest… just being angry." She finished despondently.
I frowned, "You four were defending a kingdom, right? What happened to it?" Joy glanced once at me with a sad smile on her face.
"Can we… change topic?" She asked me.
Nodding to myself, I glanced away for a moment, "You didn't have to answer if it was going to affect you like this."
She shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, "Well… I just felt like it, I guess." That's hardly an excuse, and she knows it.
The room flashed green, and I got up with a nod, "Try to like… be more mindful of the people here. If you do, then you'll be allowed to go out, just like Justine can." I said with a small smile.
Joy gave me a V-sign and a bright smile, "I'll give it a try, but I can't help but be a little rough with the uptight type… also the small guys."
Rolling my eyes, I left the room while waving at her. She can be such a pain sometimes…
I left the room and my butterflies put the pipe back in my mouth. This thing is just so damn good for the nerves.
"Trigger, fun making her all wet and bothered?" I glanced at Tiffany, who had a shit eating grin on her mouth.
Giving her a slight smile, I prepared to reply, before seeing Jeremy at the very end of the hallway. My smile grew, I gave her a wink and I nudged my head towards our team leader.
Tiffany kept her expression specifically for three more seconds before she exploded in anger, "What the hell are you insinuating, asshole!?" She demanded in anger, her left eye twitching, a snarl clear on her face along with a small blush.
"Nothing~ later, Tiffany. Keep Jeremy good company~" I said, moving past her with a sing-song voice, while giving a small punch to Jeremy's shoulder, who was just confused by the whole interaction.
Leaving Safety, I made my way towards the elevator, until I heard a voice.
"Where are you going?"
Humming at Yesod's voice, I debated if I should even hear him out… before admitting there was nothing wrong with hearing him out, "Gonna meet Red, has been a while since I last saw her." Yesod was silent for a moment.
"Any particular reason this was allowed?"
"How about this one? Trigger please work on Little Red Riding Hooded Mercenary."
I chuckled when Malkuth quite dryly answered Yesod's question for me. I heard a grunt before Yesod seemingly relented.
It didn't take me long to reach Control again, while waving at Justine, who was simply waiting in the hallways of Information. She had given me a nod when we met.
Standing in front of Red's chamber, I took one last puff of my pipe before my butterflies took it back to the coffin. I walked inside the chamber, seeing Red just laying on the floor, arms behind her head and staring at the ceiling.
"Haven't seen you in a while." Said Red while throwing a small side-eye at me.
Shrugging my shoulders, I laid next to her, arms at my sides, "I have been a bit busy as of late, finally managed to find a day that's… not a clusterfuck for me. So here I am."
Red grunted, "I don't believe that, you don't have days that aren't trying to fuck you over." I let out one small laugh at that. Yeah, even my 'peaceful days' couldn't exactly be called that.
"Well, there are less busy days and then everything else." She nodded at my words, like that was the perfect correction.
Red released a small breath, "I used to just lay down with my granny like this, she loved watching the stars… 'The freest thing you could find will always be out of your reach'. She is right in that regard." I threw her one look before looking up at the ceiling.
She must really hate that metal roof.
I closed my eyes and thought about what she said, "Are stars really free? They seem more like pretty decorations that everyone calls a different thing… it's subjective, not objective. I would call freedom being yourself, but others would call it being a slave to your emotions." Red was silent for a couple of seconds.
"Everyone likes to put a nice spin to everything around them, but I do believe what my granny told me. It… was something I never considered until now, but if I killed the Wolf, would I be free like a star? It has to be true…" She extended her hand out towards the sky.
"Right?"
…
I rose my body to instead sit on the floor, "Don't know, you may break some chains just to find yourself trapped in even more chains. There is only one way to find out, though." Red did the same thing, staring at me with a small eye-smile.
"Breaking the chain. Huh… what a fucked up cycle." She said jokingly.
Throwing her a sardonic smile, I couldn't help myself, "Welcome to life. We'll take your sanity, and you aren't taking it back." We both laughed a little at that.
Scratching my chin a little, I had to wonder why she brought this up all of a sudden, "What changed? You always wanted to kill the Wolf, but you never really… well, expected anything after that." She stared into the empty space.
Before sighing, "I'm starting to drift more towards my granny since you came in, and now I can't stop thinking about all she said. The wondrous sights… I'm starting to understand how much I missed." She turned towards me, looking at me straight in the eye.
"Even then, I can't get my vengeance out of my head. So if- WHEN I get it done, I'll see everything my granny talked about." She said with determination.
I flashed her a grin, "Aren't you full of determination… let's hope you get there then." The room flashed green, and I got off the floor.
"Time's up, but it was fun." Moving towards the door.
"Hey."
I turned towards Red, she did call out to me after all.
"I wouldn't mind having a partner with me then." She said with what I guess would be a grin without the scarf, I took a closer look at her face trying to see beyond the shadows.
It seems she has fewer scars… kind of how Justine seemed less monstrous. Guess I'm really making progress.
"It's a promise, then. Later, Red." A smile was on my face, she nodded at me once before I left her chamber and allowed myself a small pump with my fist.
There is proof… that Abnormalities can change!
EAT SHIT MANAGER! YESOD!
I coughed in my fist trying to calm myself down, but while going back towards Safety, I had a big smile plastered on my face.
Things are looking good again.