Page 1727

‘Something wrong?’ said Garovel.

‘No, just a... domestic disturbance, I guess,’ said Hector.

The woman began screeching to the point that she was spitting, and then she slapped the man. After a recoiling moment of apparent shock and visible anger, he slapped her back. Hard. She dropped to the ground like a bag of rocks.

Immediately, the man was encased in a shiny black material that Hector recognized as Leo’s element. Even the man’s head was fully encased, and Leo was stomping toward him.

“Leo,” said Hector while checking on the woman. She was clutching her cheek and slowly getting up.

Leo stopped in his tracks. He half-turned toward Hector. “What? You don’t mind, do you?”

“...Yes, I do mind, actually.”

Leo’s face scrunched up. “Why? This dude’s obviously a waste of oxygen.”

“...Let him breathe, Leo.”

Leo paused for a curt sigh, and then he flicked his wrist. The material around the man’s head vanished, and he gasped for breath.

Now the onlookers weren’t paying much attention to the couple and were instead more interested in Hector and Leo. Interested and frightened.

Leo didn’t seem to mind the attention, though. “Whaddya wanna do with this guy, then, hmm?”

The woman wasn’t yelling anymore. She was staring at Hector and backing away.

“...I’m sure the local authorities can handle it,” said Hector.

“Ya sure about that?” said Leo. “Figured you’d be more interventionist ‘r somethin’.”

“These people aren’t servants,” said Hector, mindful of all the eyes on them. He wondered if any of them understood Mohssian. “Our job is to protect them.”

“I am,” said Leo. “Protectin’ ‘em from each other.”

“...Yeah, that’s fine,” said Hector. “I’ve done that, too. But killing them in the process is not fine.”

“Oh, c’mon. Dude had it coming.”

“...You don’t know anything about him.”

“I know he hit a woman.”

Hector wanted to sigh. “...Yeah. But executing him for it is a little extreme, don’t you think?”

“Ugh. Man, are you all about tryin’ to keep neutrality above all else, too? Was kinda hopin’ you were different from the old biddy, y’know?”

“Leo.” He had to be firm here, Hector felt. If he wasn’t, then this could become a very big problem later. Not that it wasn’t one already, of course. “If you intend to kill people without... extremely good justification, then... this relationship is not going to work out at all, and you should probably just leave before you find out exactly how not neutral I can be.”

Leo blinked at him. “Alright, man. Simmer down. I didn’t eighty-six the guy. And I already said I wouldn’t kill anyone without your approval, didn’t I?”

Hector just stared at him.

Leo put a hand over his heart. “I promise not to kill anybody without your permission. There. Said it again. This time all formal-like. Ya happy?”

Hector looked around another time. People were still watching, though several had scurried away. He thought he heard some sort of siren in the distance. It was different from the sound he was familiar with, but it was probably law enforcement. “...Release him and let’s go,” said Hector.

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Silence arrived, and Hector was left to observe the curving hallway and the throngs of people walking past him, all bathed in the silvery white light from the long, rectangular lamps that were embedded in the ceiling. It was still a ways to the edge of the climate-controlled zone, but Hector was already thinking about what would happen when they reached it. He would need to remake his armor into the cooling variant, but if Leo noticed him do so... that might be a little difficult to explain.

‘Garovel, c’mon,’ he said. ‘Kind of a pressing situation here.’

‘Ah--yeah, I’m talking to Voreese. Roman has tons of safe houses we can use.’

‘You really think we should bring him back to Atreya?’

‘Roman has some in other countries, too, but I don’t know. What do you make of the guy?’

‘He’s... all over the place. But I think he mainly just needs... a sense of purpose, I guess. I mean, that’s why he wants a job, I’m pretty sure.’

‘Hmm.’

Hector tried to keep an eye on Leo. The guy seemed to be keeping a fairly close eye on him as well.

‘It should be a good job, too. Like, good for the soul, I mean. I don’t think he cares too much about money.’ That seemed like a safe bet, considering how simple the guy’s wardrobe appeared to be, as well as how he’d apparently turned down a job offer from Roman, according to what Voreese told them earlier.

Which, if actually true, was particularly baffling to Hector. Roman must’ve been able to offer this guy absurd amounts of money and probably all sorts of other shit. And yet here he was, asking Hector for work instead.

‘How do you intend to get away from him?’ said Garovel.

‘Uh... I think he’ll listen if I tell him to go somewhere,’ said Hector.

‘Are you serious?’

‘Yeah. You got an address for me?’

‘Hold on.’

Hector waited. He noticed that Leo wasn’t looking back at him now. Instead, the man’s attention was on a narrow side street to their right. A man and a woman were standing in an open doorway and having a rather loud conversation with one another.

Leo slowed and stopped to watch, and Hector couldn’t help doing the same. They weren’t the only onlookers, either. Nobody else was stopping, but there were certainly a few turned heads and craned necks.

The audience didn’t seem to deter the couple at all, however.

‘Okay, I got one,’ said Garovel. ‘You ready?’

‘One sec.’ Hector couldn’t tell what language the couple was speaking--possibly Hunese even though they weren’t Hun’Kui--but it seemed obvious enough that they were in disagreement. Judging from the elaborate black-and-white attire, Hector figured they were either wealthy or dressed up for a special occasion. From what Hector had seen during his brief time in Capaporo, those colors seemed to be popular among the upper class.

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((Triple Wednesday -- Page 3 of 3))
“...Mm,” was all Hector could think to say. He’d tried to give it an agreeing inflection.

“How ‘bout you?” said Leo. “You must have tons of stories like that one, too.”

Aw, shit. “...Of course,” said Hector.

“Oh, then, uh--c’mon, dude, ya gotta gimme some juicy deets.”

“Ah... maybe some other time.” Hector seized the initiative and stood up. He needed to start moving things along before he tripped over one of these conversational landmines. “For now, we should leave before Sai-hee shows up looking for you.”

“Eh, she prolly won’t be here for a couple more days, at least. We still got time.” Leo did decide to stand up as well, however.

“...Is she actually coming in person?” said Hector, starting toward the corridor from which he’d entered earlier.

Leo followed. “No idea. Hell, I barely ever knew her whereabouts back when I was in regular contact with her. She likes to keep her movements unpredictable. Security ‘n whatnot.”

“...If you don’t know her whereabouts, then why are you so confident that she won’t show up here for another couple days?”

“She’s always super slow to take action, dude. Always tryin’ to ‘play the game,’ y’know? Scared to make a wrong move, I think.”

That seemed to contradict the story that Axiolis had told everyone earlier. ‘We’re leaving together,’ warned Hector. ‘Keep your distance.’

‘Yeah, we can tell,’ came Garovel’s echoing voice. ‘What’s your plan?’

‘Uh. Still working that out. Hold on.’

“So c’mon,” said Leo, “tell me a story.”

Hector wasn’t sure he could bullshit up an entire story on the spot. “...Before that, we need to talk about where we’re going.”

“Oh. Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Hector supposed he should address the issue directly. “I can’t bring you with me, right now. The Rainlords are already waiting for me, and... if I show up with you, they might just attack you first and ask questions later.”

“What, you don’t think you can keep them under control?”

That was a problematic question. One which could not be ignored. Hector stopped walking in order to look the man in the eye. “...Well, there’s also the possibility that you’re lying to me and still intend to recapture them.”

“Ah. Right...”

Hector watched the man’s face for a moment more, trying to read his expression. It seemed regretful, but Hector didn’t know if he believed that or not. He started walking again. “Anyway... you need to lay low for a while. Do you have a... safe house or something that you can use?”

Leo flicked at one of his dreadlocks. “Uh... not one that the old biddy wouldn’t know about.”

That was unfortunate.

‘Garovel?’ said Hector.

‘Yeah?’

‘Do you know of a place where we can hide Leo?’

‘...Why?’

‘He, uh... he wants to work for me, apparently.’

‘...He wants to WHAT?!’

‘Well, he wants protection from Sai-hee. And also a job.’