Fuck the Fritz and fuck GEMINI. Could never trust the government to keep their word…even if all the money that they said they were going to pay her did, indeed, make it to her bank account. Good times, then. Back in her comfy jumpsuit and intent on not doing any more labour for them, despite the whole scenario of how there were still tons of rats scurrying about in and around the precinct, Klava pushed her bike out the back of one of the APCs, prepared to pig out at a breakfast buffet.
But there was a pause, however slight, when her eyes caught the untransformed visage of Protector’s. She scratched her head, mentally tossed a ball of paper into a mental recycling bin, and called out, “Hey, lets grab breakfast together. I know a cute place.”
“You do?” Klava’s magic words made Aria do a little hop. In an instant, the disappointment plastered all over her face vanished. Initially, the esper in question was filling herself with minor complaints… because it was one thing to get paid for risking their lives on the frontlines, but it was another thing entirely to be indirectly denied valuable sustenance. In her mind, a tear rolled down her face as she thought about the donuts and coffee that could’ve been. The fourth floor was too much work to get up to, anyways.
So with giddy steps, she scurried over to Klava’s bike and gently lifted her skirt. “...May I?” An odd time to ask for permission, perhaps– the two fought together, after all. Still, it had been a while since she’d been invited to eat out by anyone other than her nursery colleagues.
“No prob.”
It was just a regular bike, the sort that used good ol’ human strength and a pedal-chain configuration to manage movement, but Klava wasn’t going to complain about it. After all, her Esper body and human body were separate things. Even if she totally gassed herself out with kicking a gang’s ass as an Esper, she still needed to get in her daily exercise as a human. How else would she be able to keep in shape?
So, hunching her shoulders and switching her gears to a lower setting, the white-haired woman began to pedal away, chains creaking from the additional strain of an extra 110 lbs of weight that it had to handle. With all human transportation, however, momentum and continual effort made it easier, gradually, and after the initial huffing and puffing, Klava regained enough of her breath to start speaking.
“Whatcha think about the mission anyhow? Found it sus myself.”
"It was dangerous, to say the very least. I know it would have been easy for us to get wiped out… So I can't believe they intended to start the mission with only one other freelancer." With hands clasped firmly around the white-haired woman's waist, the esper behind her concentrated on maintaining balance with her center of mass so as not to interrupt the biker's efforts. This became more difficult as she continued to think back. "Like that host in butler's uniform really was some work, too. Do we even know where he is?" Aria shared her concern, her native accent revealing itself the more she spoke.
“Lol nope,” Klava grunted, her midriff heaving against Aria’s hands. “But he’s a freelancer. Real weird though.” Just a little more, and they’d hit the top of the slope. She brushed her shoulder against her right eye, wiping some sweat off. “Hiring freelancers for guard work’s expensive. Think they’d be around if GEMINI hadn’t advertised their operation on SHIMR?”
"They probably wouldn't have, huh? You're right about that..." Aria considered the amount that they themselves were paid for these missions. "Makes me wonder what they wanted this… "Servant Sofron" around for. And considering how fast into the fight he disappeared, it couldn't have been for King Cobra. Could it? Wait, I have a handkerchief." The backrider reached into her breast pocket and proceeded to dab the sweat forming on the sides of her rider's temple.
Klava snapped her head to the side, her bike creaking erratically as well. “Don’t,” she snapped, a little more harshly than she intended. “This isn’t a car.” This wasn’t a leisurely bike ride along a nice countryside trail, after all. Pax Septimus was a hive of scum and villainy, and the same applied to its ill-maintained roads. With two bodies on a single bike and the general uncertainty that accompanied a colleague touching her face, the pale-skinned girl didn’t want to risk anything, especially not as they sped down hill, dodging potholes and avoiding odd taxis.
“Figure that VIP guards would actually guard their VIPs, yup.” They were getting closer now. She leaned forward slightly so Aria wouldn’t get a faceful of her hair. “Guess they were just there to fight GEMINI.” But honestly, they were outnumbered like hell. Would’ve had a much better chance if they just booked it.
"Ah, sorry, Klava-san." Aria neatly stuffed the hanky back into her pocket, feeling the need to add honorifics this time. It was for the better that she listened, especially considering she hadn't been in Pax Septimus for much longer than a year-- Klava was simply looking out for their safety. Not to mention, doing her best to navigate these strange roads. "Mhm, maybe. A strange plan, if you could call it one-- speaking of which, what made you find the GEMINI's task suspicious?" Aria asked, a question mixed in both curiosity and naivety.
“Huh? I mean, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Klava skidded to a stop, rubber brakes screeching against stained steel as the bike vibrated underneath the two ladies. Turning to face Aria, she continued, “One: we were tasked with taking advantage of the frontline distraction of GEMINI…but between causing a distraction and actual infiltration, what’s more important? Two: we were the ones that like, actually fought through all the serious threats in the end. Like, Viper was a magical bitch too, or her head should’ve gone missing after my first spell. Then Sofron, then Cobra. Three: that creepy assassin dude? If it was just about killing the head honcho, he could’ve done that solo at night with his skill set. Would’ve made it way more effective to launch an attack after the snake lost its head, yeah?”
Klava may have been a bit salty, but on the other hand, maybe she was just hungry. Swinging off her bike, she motioned towards the restaurant that the two of them had arrived at. Takis Taverna, a family-run Greek restaurant hailing from the early 20th century, now run by the fourth generation of chefs and waiters. It was a bit of a dingy place, of course, with the blue and white paint having faded over time, but it was pleasant too. Cozy and a good bit quieter than the normal haunt of freelancers.
“Like, while we were doing all the heavy lifting, what were they doing?”
Aria knew well enough where Klava was coming from. It had been her most dangerous mission yet, and by then she had only tackled enough to count on one hand. In the end, her question made Aria wonder for a bit. What were they doing?
"You know what, I'm not quite sure myself. At the end of it all, I didn't even get to see the rest of the GEMINI agents we started the mission with-- Wow." The foreign esper looked at the restaurant up and down, then closed her eyes to inhale the goodness of its menu from where they stood as Klava parked her bike. "That smells too good." Aria smiled and clasped her hands together, her eyes forming strong crescents. "Let's have our well-deserved meal. My treat, for you providing transport?"
A meaty sound cut through the frigid air as Klava slapped the outside of her thigh. “Naw, I’m good. Just exercise.” And with that, she locked up her bike against a miserable little tree, before coming in.
The interior of Takis Taverna was open and airy yet intense at the same time. Sparse fluorescent lighting gave the restaurant a weirdly murderous aesthetic, like a horror movie set in a hospital, but the walls were plastered with newspaper clippings that dated back all the way to the end of the Second World War, featuring editorials, interest pieces, and reviews of the restaurant. Photos too, of celebrities visiting the place, some of them more recognizable than others (who was that weird ass chick with the aquamarine twintails?), as well as family photos of generations of restaurant staff. There was a wiry elegance to the way that the tables and chairs were arranged around the dark timber floorboard, while the counter was helmed by a bearded fellow with a bulbous nose and a balding head. Upon Klava’s entrance, he broke out into a grin.
“Oy, Klava! It’s been too long! Got tired o’ pigging out at Wing’s place yet?” His voice drew the attention of a couple other patrons, but they soon turned their attention back to their own food or phones.
“Shush,” Klava snapped back. “On a date here, y’see?”
“In those clothes? Phah, you’re not that cool an operator. Whatcha getting today?” He scratched a wart on his neck. “Got a shipment of tomatoes recently. Real fancy stuff. Organic and everything.”
She smirked. “Right, right, from Costco?”
“From Rosemary Dale Greenhouse. But ey, you here to ruin my reputable business, or you here to eat?”
“Yeah, let’s see…gimme an omelette, a pizza, and some bagels.”
“Omeletta, ladenia, and koulouri coming right up! Y’heard that, kids?”
From the closed door of the kitchen came a unified “Yes sir!”
Klava sighed, picking out a seat in the back of the restaurant. She reclined against it, enjoyed a moment of relative peace and quiet, before swearing. “Shit, you don’t have any allergies, do you?”
“Other than pollen? I’m pretty much good to go.” From the seat opposite, Aria affirmed with a thumbs-up, taking a moment to gently swing her arm around the chair to pivot and get a good look at the restaurant. From the bearded host to the kitchen chorus, there was a homey charm that came with the unrestrained friendliness of its staff and its cozy interior. And while it certainly wasn’t a place her own students would call “cute”, Aria herself ate it all up quite easily. Eyes glancing here and there, she hummed contentedly, inhaling the scents of their soon-to-be meal before turning back, a hand on her stomach in an effort to soothe its grumbling.
“Do you come here a lot? You knew exactly what to order and everything.” Aria was a little starry-eyed, both out of hunger and awe in light of Klava’s urban prowess. From the fighting, to the biking, to the picking-out-cute-restaurants in a city like this. If her newly-learned slang didn’t fail her, it was all… pretty rad.
“Yes and no?” Klava shrugged. “It’s easy to order if you know what you like to eat. And money’s always tight, so I don’t really want to waste it on something that I might not like.” Not a very bold way of living, undoubtedly. “You eat out often? Strike me as the home chef type.”
“Ah, I see… I understand now.” Aria did not understand. The woman shifted awkwardly in her seat, clearly suffering the street-smartless consequences of living a comfortable life during her childhood. “I am, actually… I mostly order my ingredients and groceries online, you see. It’s a hassle going out to get anything I want to eat if I’m alone and not in my esper form.” She explained. “I’ve only been here a year, but I will admit it’s a bit hard to adjust.”
“Oh, seriously?” The white-haired girl let out a low whistle. “Shit, so when you do want to eat out, you just roll up in that hunk o metal of yours? Could do a whole Tiktok account outta that premise.”
“Perhaps, if people would enjoy watching me stuff takeout bags into the empty spaces of my armor. The extra transformation height has been pretty useful like that.” Aria considered the thought and chuckled a little in response.
As the conversation steered towards histories however, Klava looked off to the side, across the room, through the window, to the seething city beyond. “It’s a ‘been here my whole life’ sorta deal. Parents moved out, I stayed behind. Can’t imagine what it’s like to come to Pax Sept as an outsider, really.”
Klava tapped her fingers against the table, her eyes settling back onto Aria’s. “You started freelancing a year ago too?”
“I received my grimoire shortly after I found a job I liked, so I’d say I’ve been freelancing for about… half a year now?” Aria explained, seeming a little solemn as she leaned in. “I’m sorry, I feel like it must have been difficult for you.”
“It’s not really all that bad,” Klava said, shrugging again. “Don’t really gotta rent, so it’s just paying for food and internet. And well, don’t look like it right now, but I’ve got a diploma for graphic design at PSU. Freelancing’s more affordable time-wise than getting some cashier job, y’know? And with that extra time I can work on my portfolio or manage my social media.”
Well, these days it was definitely more the former than the latter. “Crazy though. You saying that working in Pax Sept was your preference? Sheeeesh, what sorta niche work is it that you do?”
“I’m training for my teacher’s licence working as an assistant at the Rising Hope Nursery! My parents let me choose this city myself. It was the cheapest ticket I could afford on my own, and looked like it needed some community help according to the news articles I’ve read… Oh, and if you like children, perhaps you could drop by and I could introduce you to our kids!”
“That’s some movie shit, for sure.” Rising Hope Nursery, was it? One of the rare spots in the city that wasn’t filled to the brim with depraved lunatics or wannabe depraved lunatics. Klava chuckled to herself, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Got a real set o balls on ya, Protector. Gonna quit this business once you get the whole teacher package?”
“Honestly… it depends. The more I sign up for these missions, the more I feel the need to participate in these battles. For the children’s safety.” Aria sighed lightly, then nodded with resolve as she looked at Klava. “Perhaps if things become more dangerous, I’ll quit teaching and support Rising Hope from the sidelines instead. Oddly enough, it was one of my students I received my grimoire from.” The nursery assistant lifted her handbag with a jingle, presenting the tiny suit of armor keychain to her newly-made friend.
“Oh! I’d also like to see your portfolio if ever– and perhaps maybe I could follow your work?” Aria then excitedly brings up her phone to display a preview of her profile with what looks to be a whopping total of three photos all in all, before retracting her hand in embarrassment. “Ah, that is, if it’s okay with you– this is my first time getting to know another esper this well, you see.”
Klava pulled out her own phone, thumb pressed against the ‘home’ button to unlock it, before opening up the Shimr app. “I don’t really want to build a follower base that know me as an Esper or anything, but if you wanna add me on Shimr, I can DM you some of my works after this. Lemme eat your food sometime in exchange.”
“Consider it a “done deal!” That friend request was sent to Klava faster than the bullet trains you could find in Tokyo. “I’m looking forward to seeing your designs. In exchange… I’ll send you a DM with my address on it. Send me a text anytime you’d like a meal– how do you feel about Japanese cuisine?”
“I’m half-Japanese on my mother’s side, so gimme your specialist stuff,” Klava said. “And yeah, grimoires have a weird way of popping up into your life.”
Before she could continue, however, the bulbous-nosed owner of Takis Taverna strolled up once more, his arms laden with a variety of breakfast items. For appetizers, there were wheat-based rings of bread, coated in sesame seeds and still steaming from their time in the oven. There was a reasonably-sized pan of flatbread too, with thin slices of charred tomato and onions over top, and glistening olive oil drizzled over the entire dish. A folded omelette looked to be the primary stomach-filler of the dish though, loaded with peppers, potatoes, and sausage, with a couple lemon wedges on the side to counter the heaviness of the dish. And for dessert? Two cups of creamy, thick rice pudding, with cinnamon sprinkled on top.
Klava blinked. “This one’s free, yeah?”
“Of course, of course!” He boomed. “Gotta up our customer retention ratio with freebies, after all.”
“Cool. Thanks.”
The man smiled, made to leave, and then said over his shoulder, “Oh, but make sure to tip, yes? Amount equal to the pudding?”
Klava rolled her eyes, then turned her attention back to Aria. “Well, where were we again? General Pax Sept conspiracies?”
“Thank you for this!” Aria called out to the owner as she left her food-stunned daze. “Klava, this looks amazing.” If the lights were bright enough, one could be able to tell that her eyes were dilated to match the size of the omelette still steaming in front of them. However, it seemed she would deign not to touch any of the food before the host of the meal. “Right! In regards to Pax Septimus, how long do you also plan on working as an esper yourself?” She asked, standing to fill their mugs with water.
Klava had no such interest in waiting. With the knife and fork that were provided, she began to methodically divvy up the half-moon omeletta into smaller portions, steam rising from every cut she made. There was some feta cheese on the inside too, the aroma hitting with all the subtlety of a horse’s kick. She wrinkled her nose slightly, but proceeded to eat, motioning with her eyes that Aria ought to do the same.
“Dunno really,” she spoke after a moment. “The money’s good and I keep hearing how bad it is to make your passion into your job. Guess the best measurement of retirement is like…how long would it take for this place not to be shit.” A pause, a small nod. “Y’know about Penny?’
“Sadly, I don’t. I think I’ve done a little too much of that… “making-my-passion-into-my-job” thing, and always left for my shift before I could get to know other espers.” Aria smiled apologetically before clasping her hands together and whispering a quiet, “Itadakimasu”. With the cutlery, she picked up a portion of the omelette and placed them onto her plate, generously helping herself to the foreign cheese and its distinct flavor, enjoying every moment of it. “Who is Penny, anyways?” She asked after finishing her first bite.
“Ah…figures.” Klava smiled, taking a sip of water. “So, prior to GEMINI coming here, the entirety of Pax Sept was ruled by this lady called Penny. Real badass, y’see. Whole ass walking calamity that mades like, Elroy, strongest freelancer around these parts, look like peanuts. Now, despite all that ruling, Pax Sept was still shit, so obviously there’s something fundamentally broken about the city to begin with. Too much bad vibes or something.”
She tore off a piece of the tomato-onion flatbread, rolled it up, and then tossed it into her mouth, enjoying the mixture of textures before continuing. “Anyhow, only reason GEMINI wanted in on Pax Sept now is because word on the street’s that Penny’s dead. So now, you’ve got relative order getting tossed into even more chaos, and you have all these big ass gangs and factions and the goddamn government all throwing down…and ya see how things are probably gonna get worse, ye? Like, that freaky shadow dude would probably have to build a whole mountain of corpses before things start calming down again.”
“Which brings up the question again.” The white haired girl pulled out one of the koulouris, looking at her breakfasting partner through the hole. “Like, what the hell’s GEMINI doing here? They’re both too damn early and too damn late, if ya catch what I’m putting down.”
“Oh… I’ve never looked at it that way. I didn’t even have an idea that things were heading that direction.” Aria paused her eating to speak in a hushed tone, leaning further onto the table. “According to what you said, it seems to me that they’re somehow trying… to take her place? Maybe gain the upper hand, for power, like in those political war movies. But could there be a chance that they’re only trying to take initiative and assume responsibility for Pax Septimus…?” She thought out loud, looking around her before settling back in her seat with crossed arms, utensils still in hand. “But even then, the idea of using freelancers as pawns during their missions doesn’t sit too well with me. Perhaps Sofron was in the same position as us too. Do we know of how Penny supposedly died?”
“Naw, all we know is that she’s gone. Might’ve been something like her getting banished somewhere that she can’t escape. Otherwise whoever did it would probably like, be parading her corpse around.” Had to establish dominance, after all, if the killer’s goal was power or reputation. But in absence of all this, it had to be for fomenting chaos. Klava chewed on her food thoughtfully. “Well, freelancing means that we’d be pawns regardless. I just think it’s sus that they weren’t upfront about it. Which, well, brings shit up.”
She leaned in closer, conspiratorially.
“Did you notice anything off while you were with shadow man, or anything at all during the whole operation?”
"Shadow ma-- Sir Agent, Silhouette?" Aria felt shivers up her spine when she recalled his spooky esper form and equally chilling voice. "Other than the fact that he was a little late, nothing felt strange with him. He did his best with us, I feel… However," Crossed arms once again found their place on the table, the dark-haired girl resuming her hushed tone. "...We never did get to see the upper floors of that building, nor the basement. Perhaps there was no need to, but weren't there supposed to be inmates being taken out in handcuffs in a line, or at least something like that? Adding on to that, a good portion of the GEMINI agents we started the mission off with weren't anywhere to be seen, at all. In fact, Agent Silhouette and Valkyrie were the only ones who sent us off. Though maybe that's a little less strange, and more rude, for me at least." The girl shook her head, taking a disappointed bite out of the flatbread on her fork.
“Makes one think, yeah?” Klava nodded, leaning back against her chair. She stared at the lights for a moment, recalling the flame-wreathed hallways, the smoke that surged all about. The other precincts, would they have also been taken over by GEMINI over the next couple of days? Would the inmates be transferred? She frowned, then sat up abruptly. “Wait, why were there still inmates anyhow?” She tilted her head to the side. “Like, you see where I’m going with this, Pro?”
“Yes, I think I do…” Aria nodded, her brows furrowing as she focused a hole into the table, twirling the fork in her hand. “The inmates– I wonder what they did with them. Both the mob group then and now… the GEMINI.” The woman pondered some more before taking another mindful bite of the divvied-up omeletta. “Perhaps if there is another mission at another precinct… it wouldn’t be too bad of an idea to explore a little more, would it?” The newfound concern was clear on the nursery assistant’s face, eager to make sure that nothing was indeed as shady as they were speculating.
“Yeah, that would be nice. Who watches the watchmen, yeah?”
“En. Nobody.” Aria nodded with the eagerness of a fellow budding conspiracy theorist. “Now that we’re friends on Shimr, if we’re not together on the same mission, I’ll be sure to update you should I find anything out on my side!”
“Freelancers gotta stick together, after all!” Klava raised her glass of water for a toast, before downing it in one gulp. “Now let’s finish this before it gets stale, eh?”
“Yes ma’am!” Aria excitedly raised her own glass to Klava’s for a quick clink, and then eagerly pumped her fists as if to say “let’s do it”. There was a new sense of motivation and camaraderie in the air, and the nursery teacher ate it all up as easily as she did her own delicious portions of breakfast. “Thanks for inviting me here, Klava-san.”
princess
Izurich
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