[center][h1][color=slateblue]In Stereo![/color][/h1][/center]




[color=slateblue]“So,”[/color] Mindy began slowly. [color=slateblue]“Paradox is like...The Men in Black?[/color] [color=slateblue]But with unicorns and dragons instead of aliens?”[/color] She sat at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in her hands, as she stared dumb founded at Leila Mayner. Charlton had gone to sleep a few hours ago, Eris said it was because he was getting up there age wise. Darius sat next to Mindy, his head in his hands. He was tired as hell, and the coffee that Max had made really wasn’t helping at all. Eris had decided to explore most of Max’s house, while Max himself decided to sit on the sofa, and keep an eye on Pheonix, the so called “Peace Maker” that Leila brought with her.  

Leila calmly sipped her tea out of a mug. “Well, we do have aliens mind you. We have a bit of everything at Paradox.” She answered. Mindy nodded, as if she understood finally. She really didn’t.

Darius looked up from the table with tired, sagging eyes. “Okay, so you said you wanted to talk to Eris about Powers, but it’s been about an hour, and the only thing anyone has done is tried to explain how the unicorns fit into the equation.” He said. Leila sighed, sympathetically. 

“I know. I did come to talk to Eris, but…” Leila glanced thoughtfully sideways at nothing. “They don’t seem as enthused as they were before.” 

Mindy couldn’t deny that. An hour ago, Eris seemed down for anything Leila had to offer, but the minute they got the answers they needed to all of their questions about Paradox, they went galavanting off to explore Max’s small home. Mindy doubted they were even actually exploring, as it couldn’t possibly take this long to explore a house this small. [color=slateblue]“Well, this seems like a wonderful idea.[/color] [color=slateblue]An Agency that solves impossible problems…”[/color] Mindy said. [color=slateblue]“What kind of problems have you had in the past?”[/color] She pointed a thumb at the sofa where Max and Pheonix were sitting. Max was staring suspiciously at Pheonix, as if any moment now he would burst into flames again. [color=slateblue]“What kind of situation needs a human torch as the solution?”[/color]

Leila smiled, and put her mug down. “Ah, I could be here all day just recounting the many cases we get at Paradox.” She said. “If you must know, Pheonix’s first case involved solving the mystery of the Bemuda Triangle.” Mindy almost spit out her tea, but Darius perked up at the words “Bermuda Triangle”.

“You told me that story before. Of course, back then I didn’t believe you. Hell, I knew you had weird stuff at Paradox, but I didn’t think it was weird like-” He too pointed to the sofa “that kind of weird.” 

[color=slateblue]“The Bermuda Triangle?”[/color] Mindy asked confused. 

Darius nodded. “It makes way more sense than it sounds, trust me.” he said. “But he uses his Powers to solve the mystery for some lady who came asking about it.” 

Mindy really wanted to know how Pheonix could have solved a mystery like that with literal fire power, but she realized how late it was getting. [color=slateblue]“While I really wanna know, I don’t think we have any more time.[/color] [color=slateblue]But we’ll talk it over with Eris.”[/color] Mindy said, wondering what was up with their unusual behavior that night. Mindy went to go find Eris, while Darius prodded Charlton awake. Mindy could hear the butler snort and yelp as she walked down the hallway to Max’s room. The door was open, the light was on, and Eris was rummaging through Max’s things. [color=slateblue]“Eris, what are you doing?”[/color] She whispered, panicked. Eris looked up, and beckoned her closer to the dresser. 

[color=mediumspringgreen]“Great your here, I need you to find a green moth pin for me.”[/color] Eris said. Mindy shook her head, trying to wrap her head around tonight, and all that she had learned. 

[color=slateblue]“Eris, now is not the time to be snooping!”[/color] She whisper shouted. She joined Eris by the dresser. They had removed most, if not all of Max’s clothing, frantically feeling the sides and corners of the chests. 

[color=mediumspringgreen]“I’m not snooping.”[/color] Eris explained. [color=mediumspringgreen]“You know the pin on Leila’s jacket?”[/color] Mindy nodded slowly. [color=mediumspringgreen]“Well, thats how she gets in touch with people.[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]And I’m betting that’s how she found Max.”[/color]

[color=slateblue]“Why would Max have a pin like that?”[/color] Mindy asked. [color=slateblue]“He didn’t even know about Leila till tonight.”[/color]

Eris moved on to the closet. [color=mediumspringgreen]“You’re right.[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]He may not know who Leila is personally, but I bet he knows an Agent.[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]Ha!”[/color] They came up with a small, silver and jade Moth pin. Mindy’s jaw just about dropped. 

[color=slateblue]“So...Max does know an Agent.”[/color] Mindy said. [color=slateblue]“Well so what?[/color] [color=slateblue]What’s that prove?”[/color] 

[color=mediumspringgreen]“Nothing on Max, but on Leila…”[/color] They said. [color=mediumspringgreen]“I don’t think she knew we were coming here to his house.[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]In fact, I don’t think Pheonix is here as a Peace Maker.”[/color]

[color=slateblue]“Are you saying she’s like...an Assassin or something!?”[/color] Mindy exclaimed. 

[color=mediumspringgreen]“No, of course not.[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]She isn’t here to kill anyone.[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]But Pheonix did burn the house down.[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]And Leila’s Agents are always composed.[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]They do exactly what she says, and I know because I’ve seen one before.[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]He was some asian guy, but he did everything Leila asked, even down to fetching her a glass of water.[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]I can’t imagine this Pheonix guy would just burn a whole house down for no reason.”[/color] They explained.

Mindy looked at the pin in Eris’ hand. [color=slateblue]“And she never scolded Pheonix once about anything.[/color] [color=slateblue]She just apologized.”[/color] She said. [color=slateblue]“This is weird.[/color] [color=slateblue]We can’t spend all night thinking about it up here, though.[/color] [color=slateblue]We have to go now.”[/color] 

Eris pocketed the pin, and began to clean the place up a little until everything looked halfway decent. Mindy stood in the door way, thinking. [color=slateblue]“The only thing I can’t think of is why Max wouldn’t say anything.[/color] [color=slateblue]Unless Leila threatened him.”[/color] She said.

Eris shook their head. [color=mediumspringgreen]“Nope.[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]Leila doesn’t shake people down.[/color] [color=mediumspringgreen]She’s a peaceful type.”[/color] They said. Mindy wondered how Eris knew Leila at all. She would have to ask them sometime, if she could remember to do so on top of everything else. They left the room, Charlton and Darius were at the door, and Max was seeing them out. Leila still sat at the table, and Pheonix had joined her. [i]They must still have more to talk about.[/i] 

The drive to Eris and Charltons small apartment was a little long, and by the time they got their Darius looked just about dead with sleep. He had booked a room at a hotel for them to stay in while they were in town. That night, Mindy didn’t get a whole lot of sleep. She kept thinking about what the Moth Pin could mean, and why Max had one. She wasn’t entirely convinced at first, but when she noticed that Leila and Pheonix stayed behind, she knew it had to be a little bit true.
……………..
[color=thistle]Hey I feel like I didn’t make this clear in Mindy’s bio, but both of her parents are on active duty in the military, so Darius is sort of looking after her until they come back.[/color] [color=thistle]one reason why her parents were considerate of Snowflake, and not the other offers was because when Darius came to meet them, they had both been called away to serve, and had to leave pretty soon.[/color]

[color=thistle]no atmosphere this time, its too short a post lol.[/color]