Xenotober Day 7 Frye & Irina (part 1, old books)

a/n: Going off the prompt list, this is the start of a multi-part story with Frye and Irina on an adventure. Today: Frye gets a phone call. Not enough editing because my internet is weaker than a Ma-non's self control around pizza.

Frye's story began as most of his stories did, with him standing in the parking lot of the Repenta Diner. He wasn't banned this week, at lest he didn't think he was, but the air outside was nice and he found the traffic noises soothing. He had just enough tension in the back of his neck that he thought he might start a fight if he went inside the bar, so all in all the parking lot was just fine. He supposed he could have stayed home, relaxing in a leather chair, with a pipe and an old book or two. He laughed at the image, adding a fire place and a snifter of amber delight to the daydream. Hell, he could wear a velvet robe and a little red fez while he was at it. He took another swig from his mystery flask and the sting brought him back to reality. His supplier had been inventive recently, but it definitely was not well-aged brandy.

He wasn't so deep into his meditions to take offense when his comm device shrilled. "YO!" he shouted into it. Maybe he took a little offense. If someone called him off-duty, they had better be willing to get yelled at.

"FRYE!" shouted the caller, louder than the initial greeting. "HAVE YOU SEEN IRINA?"

Frye toggled the volume down so that it wasn't at all-caps levels and tried to make out the caller. Damn caller ID was too small on these damn phones. The video was bumping around, not like it was the caller was riding in a vehicle, but like they were multi-tasking too many things and the call was not their priority. There was a glipse of an eye, a shock of wayward brown hair, a lot of sandy wall, someone in the background in full armor and with weapons engaged. "Gwin?" guessed Frye. "Are you calling me from a mission?"

"Just a Curator thing," said Gwin a little breathlessly. Something metallic snapped which Frye would have sworn was a magazine being locked. "But it's running long and I can't reach Irina. We were supposed to meet. Have you seen her?"

Frye was still fixated on Gwin breaking all the rules by making a personal call while he was out in the field. Usually Frye was all for that kind of bad behavior, but this felt a little sloppy, even for Gwin. "Is that gunfire in the background?"

Another face popped into the screen. "HI FRYE! Hey, Gwin, can I borrow your assault rifle? Mine jammed."

"Hand it over and I'll clean it," said Gwin. The rookie's face disappeared and the video wobbled wildly again. Then Gwin reappeared, solidly framed. "I gotta go soon. Have you seen Irina?"

Frye had questions, so many questions, but he recognized a pointless fight. Didn't always stop him, but this time it felt like maybe the faster Gwin got his head in the game, the better things would go for their side somewhere in (he would guess) Oblivia. "I saw her walk into the diner a while ago." Frye weighed the flask in his hand, calculated ounces per minute and clarified, "Probably two hours ago."

"Shit," Gwin said. There was an anguished scream in the background.

Frye was done with the conversation. "My man, hang up! You're taking casualties!"

Gwin looked over his shoulder. "He'll be fine."

"THEY HIT A SAMPLE JAR!" wailed the voice off-screen. Frye recognized it as coming from Gwin's Curator friend, Matt something or other, and his concerns shrunk.

"Look," Gwin continued, speaking rapidly, "we were supposed to go to dinner."

"OOooooooooOOoooh," Frye leered.

"Just dinner," Gwin emphasized. "Elma had her at lunch and I think Murderess was taking her shopping afterwards. Obviously I am going to miss dinner and I don't want her to be alone."

Suspicion bloomed in Frye's gut. "Special day?" he asked quietly.

"Her brother's birthday," said Gwin. "She..." The link cut out.

"I'm on it," said Frye, to nothing and no one.

a/n: The Best Guest suggested more with these two a month or so ago, and they have been stewing in my brain. Why wait? The rookie is Case the Cross, a friend of Gwin and seen in Drunkard, Hobo, Liar and The Great Skell Robbery.

Next up: Frye buys Irina a beer.