I can feel my heart bumping harder against my chest, its noise replicating on my ears, but not for the expected reasons. Right now, I am following Wave the Swallow through one of the secret passages of the manor. It looked like a ventilation shaft: small, forcing us to crawl and dimly lit. She is at the lead, so I just have to follow.
We haven't said a word since we entered, the only sound was the one coming from our movements against the metal square corridors. I gotta admit, if feels crammed here. It had being years since I had to sneak into Eggman's machines or some other organization like this, so I am not used about how different this feels now, with me being so much bigger.
But my main concern is not the fact that I joined a thief on her plans, and the possibility of getting caught or going to prison, or worse. What distracts me the most is my companion. The swallow took the lead, which meant ... I am staring at her ass. There is no other way to put it.
I notice her bump swinging side to side with every movement. I try, I really try to look away, or to focus my eyes on the nothing.
But my eyes would always fall on it again, mesmerized. And... Is it bigger? Muscle don't spontaneously grow but maybe the position? I can't help but think that her dress hugs her body tighter now, somehow. And then were her sexy, long shapely legs and her killer calves and...
For the love of Chaos, stop brain. I shut my eyes in hopes of also stopping my carnal side from talking. For a moment, as I think of anything but how good she looks. Or how incredible she looked with the moonlight. Or her exposed back. Or her nice single braid. Or... God dammit brain! Stop!
Suddenly, I touch something soft. I jump away, as if I touched fire, but my sudden movement made me hit with the low roof. "Shit." I let go, easing my pain.
"You deserve that." Wave said, angry. What did I... Oooooooooh. Fuck. "Keep your hands to yourself, you pervert!" She screams. She is in her right to say that, except... it wasn't my hand that touched her. My face is completely red, but Wave can't turn around and see that.
It is now that I see she has stopped and pulled out her holo pendant. From what I can tell, she is hacking some mechanism, possibly some alarm, so I wait for her.
Before long, she finished and we continue our trek. And it took little time to get to the room.
It looks like a library, with these bookshelves that seemed to be three meters tall, filled with thick books with no space left to spare. But I highly doubt they have being used that much.
With confident steps the lady moves around, with an idea of what to look for. So, she went to a specific shelf and started pulling book after book. I was about to join her in the endeavor, until she managed to pull the right one. She stepped back, and then, the entire books shelf slides to the side, revealing a vault. A classic.
However, the lock is electric, a digital computer board with 10 lines short lines above it and on top of the digital panel, in red was the word secure in bright red.
This guy made a terrible mistake. Wave just pull out her holo pendant, generates a green screen and touches it on a few areas. Before I knew it, the electric lock goes from secure to open, shining in green letters.
She pulled the vault open, revealing small mountains of gold, jewels and other high value stuff. Wave starts searching frantically, and it lands on me... Is she searching for something in particular? I know I said all that about a legacy and preserving it, but these guys are also thieves.
Honestly, with the impressions I got from them during the first competition, Wave looks and acts less like a thief than Jet. At least, that is how I see it. But then, at the end of the competition, with the whole Babylon Garden chaos, Jet was actually willing to relinquish the treasure for losing and Wave sort of nagged at him for almost doing so.
Still, asking isn't a bad idea. "Hey, are we... looking for something in particular?"
"Why do you care?" She doesn't sound too happy about it.
"I just wanna make myself useful. And not be bored." I admit, putting my hands behind my head.
"Then why did you even came to this party?"
"I told you. I was babysitting."
"Yeah. And doing a lousy job. Aren't you going to get in trouble?" That, half sounded like a joke or something.
"If that really worried me, I wouldn't be with a thief." I... Well, I am lying. Of course it concerns me if someone comes here and puts me in prison for breaking in private property. Of course it worries me that the guard that followed and found us making out serves as a witness and I go to prison for being an accomplice.
This finally made her ignore the loot and pay me attention again... That felt weird, even if it was on my mind. "Just to shut you up, I am looking for this." She says, her holo pendant on hand and, on the green screen, there is this egg jewel thingy.
And just like that, Wave returned to metal box. I would like to join her, but an idea just forms on my head. I go to the other side of the room, a shelf. It holds papers and pencils, maybe for studies. But, my guess is right. Here, there are three of the eggs that Wave showed me, and some other gems. "Hey."
"What now?!" She says, and then her eyes expand a lot. It seemed this is the thing she was looking for. "How?!" She lets out, while running to me.
"Well, it was here with other studying tools, so I think these were..."
"Paperweight." She finished. She... sounded low and offended.
"Yeah. This possibly means they are not in the vaults."
"But rather placed as simple ornaments." I noticed her hand and see that she is tightening her fist. She is obviously upset. And I am not sure that I get why.
"But hey, that means it will be easier to take them." I start but Wave is ignoring me, already going back to the ducts. Except, she stops right in front of a new one and steps to the side.
"You go at the front." She demands and it is obvious why. I comply, knowing that I am red on my face. I put my hand in and lower my head, when I feel something hitting my butt, with the sound of a slap and I, again, hit my head on the metal roof.
"Chaos dammit." I let go. "What was that for?!" I can't help but snap, glaring at the swallow.
"To be even." She replies. I hold her stare for a while. Her smile never goes down, so I just walk in. Should have expected something like this.
I go to the vents again, but stops mid-way and check my back, just to make sure I avoid any sneak attacks.
She doesn't try again, but is giving me her back. I just enter and take the lead. And by listening, I know she is following me.
"And about what you said, you are dead wrong. I know where every vault is and all these secret passages. If the rest of the eggs are dispersed as paperweight, then this is going to be a crazy goose chase."
...Whoa, that is actually a good point. But there is something that is bothering me. "But what about the security cameras?" I asks and she releases a puff of air from her mouth.
"A little hack here and there and you can fake the images that the cameras emit. You can use previous recordings to do so. But it has to be fast or else, they might notice something is wrong." Wave says. I expected that much.
"Is it possible for you to get the live footage of the cameras?" I ask.
Wave is silent for a while. "Now that you mention it." Her tone is nicer than before.
In a matter of minutes, we travel through the vents maze, until reaching to the main computer room. The vents lead behind a rather big CPU, which I push slightly, just to make sure we are at the right room.
Here, there are around 10 workers, but at least 50 screens, all pointing at every possible room on the manor and various angles.
It is enough. I see Wave touch her screen frantically, introducing code and other after other. But, soon enough, she manages to connect with their systems. Now, her green screen shows every corner of the structure, permitting us to see the whole place.
Damn. She is still great. Like, I never expected her to be any less, but to see her hack into their systems, without a direct contact with their machines, is still praiseworthy.
It takes us a while to identify the rooms where the eggs are hidden: A statue on the garden has two on each hand on the first floor; one on the observatory, around the giant telescope on the fourth floor; and one on the rec room, on the top floor.
"Ok, now what?" I ask. I wanna be on the same page as her.
"We will return to the party. It is the easiest way to get to the garden." She says.
"Won't there be guards on the garden?" I ask again.
"What happened to not being concerned and all that?" She says, with a confident smile. I can't help but be reminded of Sonic's cocky smile. That 'I do first and worry never' that represents him perfectly.
Not that much new happened while we traveled back to, except, to reach a particular vent, we need to pass through a few hallways with guards. We sneaked around, believing that we knew where the guards were.
At one point, as we wait on a corner, Wave stuck her head out, trying to get an idea of what is coming, only to quickly return it, as a flash of light comes from the other side of the pathway.
"Shit. Shit." She lets go, as she runs from where we came from. I follow her, trying to not get nervous, but watching Wave lose her nerve is... contagious.
We got to the opposite side of the passage, again with a corner at our backs. Wave quickly looks out. "It seems we are..."
(Crash!) Crap. I looks at my side. In my efforts of being stuck to the wall, I pushed some vase on a table. Even in the dark, I know her face has lost all color.
"What was that?" We heard and, it seems it made Wave react, looking around and going through a nearby door. I follow her.
"Something, something." She murmurs, with her holo-pendant on hand and the prints of the mansion. "Dammit." She says louder, lowering her pendant. Oh no.
This room is a small living room, with two sofas and a small table. Wave goes to the windows and open it slightly. "OK, let's do this."
"What?" I try to whisper but it is a little loud to be one. And I see her starting to leave through the window. "Wait. Are you nuts? There are workers outside. They will catch us."
"And what do you suggest, genius?" She asks. I think a little, but I only have one idea.
"Trust me." I say and wrap an arm around her waist.
"H-hey. Kissing me is not going to work." For once in the entire evening, I don't turn red or lose balance for her comments. Instead, I go to my tail and take away the band. Now, my twin tails separate and start spinning. In the matter of seconds, we get some altitude.
"...About time." I hear her say and, honestly, I thought I would lose concentration. Thank goodness I didn't. But... for how long has she known?
We get to the inner roof, still flying. I am really thankful that my flight is mostly silent, because the guards finally entered the room. They turn up the lights, and give the room a quick search.
They notice the wind moving the curtains. That was thanks to Wave and her first escape plan. They close the windows and left the room. I am thankful it is short, because my tails can't hold this for much longer.
I look away, expecting an earful, but instead, we get an awkward silence. I go to the exit, making sure the guards are gone. OK, now that is solved, I blurt. "Since when have you known?"
"...A while." She says, smug about it, but there was a strange pause at the beginning. Was she... distracted? I let go a held air. Even now, I feel a step behind her.
"That's not going to be a problem, will it?" I ask.
"You tell me." She replies.
"What do you mean?" She lets her arms fall to her sides, like she is disappointed or something. Not sure why.
"...This is not the place to talk about that." She admits, with her composure back and I agree.
And, with that, we manage to get back to the vents without any hindrance. This one is going back to the bathroom. Again, I take the lead, about to enter, when she stops me.
"Wait." The bird girl calls me out. And I turn my head. I just blink, stunned. She has removed her mask from her face. And I look at her again. God, years have being generous with her.
At my best estimate, she is supposed to be reaching her mid to late twenties, but she looks younger, on her early twenties. Her fur... Er feathers are neat and shine with life. She has no make up, but for the life of me, I would never imagine her needing it. Her whole face just seems to complement itself. The blue of her eyes, with the yellow of her beak and the purple seems to mix perfectly into an aphrodisiac beauty.
And, somehow, it is until now that I notice that she is in front of me and extending her hand to my face. I pull my head away. Wave then stops, for a moment, a flash of hurt appearing on her face. But, as fast as it came, it left.
"Move it." She put her mask back on her face and took the lead, suddenly not caring about my presence behind her. And I feel like crap.
I only flinched because I was taken by surprise, but it is probable she took it the wrong way.
She got out faster and I recognize this pacing: She is trying to escape from me. And I am not sure if I shouldn't let her. Some people think I understand women, but I don't. But I know when I have hurt one and know that keeping some distance is better.
We return to the bathroom and she is sneaking out, trying to escape the men's bathroom without been seen by anyone.
I follow her. She is aware of my presence, as she turns around, expecting me and snatches my wrist. I should be feeling ashamed or something like that, but now all I feel is tension and unease. And not the good one.
So, we return to the dance floor for another piece, this one has more life to it. The particular movement is to lock arms with your partner, spin in a circle and the turn around and grab a new one. So, we do it, I give another spin with a female mouse and then... Wave got lost from my sight.
I weight the possibility of going after her, as another woman dances with me. I upset her just now. I promised myself to be nice with her. But was it better to accompany her, or to leave her alone? I don't think she would mind.
The piece finished, so I went back. Do I look for her or not? I weighted my options when I suddenly found her with my eye. And she is not alone. God dammit.
She crashed with the worst person possible.