Revitalizing, yet stressful. A proper composite description of what it felt like to lie in their bed. Sadly, however, her partner was currently too stubborn to join her. That was the stressful part of it all. He sat on the edge of the large mattress, shirt removed but gloves still in place, every gap in his skin which refused to heal seething with flames. Having him there in general was the revitalizing essence of the moment, but she felt partially distressed for having been the perceived cause of his foul mood.
“Come on. You can’t be upset like this forever.”
“I ain’t laughin’. You all love to treat me like some sorta joke, but I wonder just how much y’all think I’m willin’ to take?”
“No one thinks you’re a joke.”
“Yet here I am being assigned an over-glorified babysitter among a group of incompetents. And you were the one who signed me up for it.”
“That’s not fair, Hellfire. You know why I had to do this.”
“What I know is that I’ve spent more time panderin’ to others than I have doing what I actually want. My brother still lives, my enemies exist without my blade down their throats, and I haven’t burned away the weak trash consistently surroundin’ me with a single wave of the hand! Now I’m to be treated like a child?”
A part of her knew this would be a nearly impossible thing to quell. The primary defining factor of his life had always been his hate. Hate for almost everyone he encountered, hate for his allies; even his own family was well placed on the list of people he outright hated. If given the opportunity or the leeway it was almost assured, he would do exactly as he had made multiple promises of in the past and start seeking out his enemies. The greater issue was that some of those enemies, normally avoided for the average claimant, weren’t far-fetched targets for someone as driven and capable as him. That was why aikekunai and treasures held proper positions on that list.
Thankfully Evyette had a plethora of methods for keeping him well under control... for the most part. He wasn’t the type of claimant to turn back on his decisions and he could easily be classified as the most stubborn thing to ever exist. Too stubborn to even die apparently. But with a few steps around the bed, she positioned herself at his front. With a soft shove to his chest, he’d relent and fall on his back. And when her hands fell at both sides of his head and her legs straddling his waist, the black fire would subside and with it the cold it brought. Unwavering, unrelenting, fearless, and yet she held the key to his heart. Its sole owner.
“Do you trust me?” Her words like a lyric in his ears.
“That’s not fair.”
“And just like that I have my answer. You don’t need to believe in anyone else, but you must believe in me. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you or insult you.”
“I know that... I know.”
“Then continue to trust in me just like you always have. I know you’re frustrated, but don’t let it get to you. This is necessary for your reputation.”
His brow furrowed, a scowl forcing itself onto his face before subsiding with a deep breath. He could feel her hands pressed against the sides of his face, the tips of her fingers over his ears. Serenity. Calm. Certainties he never took for granted. Of course, he’d remain frustrated but that didn’t change the things he refused to let slip away from him. This warmth, this love.
“Alright. I can’t win against you anyway. I’ve always trusted you and that’s never going to change, no need to back me into a corner. You’re still my perfect fire so I’ll do as you ask.”
“Thank you, Myha. My softie of a warrior.”
“Now you’re just teasin’ me lovebird.”
Le’eroy wasn’t nearly as interested in the work as he was with the attendees themselves. When Lunia had told him about this group he expected to find a room full of likeminded individuals with a common goal. Claimants with a hunger for the hunt and the thrill which came with it... Instead, he found himself in a room full of claimants who didn’t look like they even wanted to be present. Eviax barely looked like she wanted to be there, but at least Evans was there for her support. Personally, he had decided not to interfere with anyone’s squabbles unless they had turned particularly violent. Most of the attendees weren't particularly known for being outright violent on all cylinders except for a certain few. That was why, in all his judgement, he kept his eyes on three specific individuals.
Verin. Hellfire. Haden.
Verin was clearly displeased to even be present, but it didn’t take long for Haden and Hellfire to clash before anyone else could even get the opportunity. Le’eroy didn’t see a problem with their argument, but Evans acted to keep them separated before things could escalate to burning or freezing levels. His ears perked up with the expectation of a following disaster, but he was surprised to see them both holding back. No doubt due to their respective ancients. That didn’t, however, keep them from speaking. Now the hope was that they'd manage to not insult anyone else with their words alone outside of one another. However, neither of them were particularly good at not offending everyone within earshot the moment insults began to fly.
“Look at ya now! Oh, how disappointed Evyette would be to see ya hangin’ from a feckin wall!”
“I’d like you to remember how many times I’ve almost killed you in the past. It’d do you a service to remember that, while I am Rhihon, I ain’t your boy toy, faggot... No offense to anyone else.”
That offends everyone else. Le'eroy could feel his chest throbbing.
“What’d ya just call me, bitch-ass? Watch yerself before I have to drag ya to the nearest tree.”
“My fault. I thought we were insultin’ one another. I forgot you take insults just as well as you take a punch... or with equally the same grace Daenu chooses her partners.” The insults flowed out like aged wine. "You make this too easy you dickless piece of shit."
“I’ll shatter ya t’pieces and scatter ya across the feckin Poles!”
"Oh please. I'd expect that type of initiative from someone who ain't a bottom, but you're welcome to try. I've been dyin' to see what it is that Shinzo sees in you. Then again I suppose I'd have to start lookin' down to even begin figurin' it out."
The steadily devolving room of claimants only found any partial form of order when Eviax started talking. The first thing she did was greet them and invite everyone to sit, but that was no doubt a reactionary thing to say possibly brought on by nervousness from the lunar claimant’s perspective. While he personally didn’t care, he knew no one else was going to sit on the floor. Haden looked at the treasure as if she were brainless. Hellfire, in all his confidence, simply raised his brow before closing his eyes and outright ignoring her. Or at least ignoring the parts he deemed unnecessary. At least everyone else seemed more interested to say the very least.
At least I can rely on Najya and Loic. Or so Le’eroy convinced himself, but then the folders were handed out and the details were quickly ironed out.
Hearing that the group he’d oversee would handle hunting down some escapees served to please the zealot more than anticipated, and it was also the moment he and Hellfire both shared an equally distinct glare. They weren’t friends, and since Le’eroy avoided alcohol they weren’t even really acquaintances, but if they had anything in common it would be their distinct affinity for combat. While they both also expected Haden to be on the same page, regardless of how little they cared for one another, the mentioning of the koi was more than enough to tell them both who he would be joining. Thankfully, Eviax was thoughtful enough to place two groups together for their search. It was almost an assurance at this point that Haden would actively oppose everyone around grouped him unless they were on his side.
“I can only hope this won’t be as annoyin’ as it might seem,” Hellfire muttered before spectating Eviax and Verin’s conversation. If it could be called that. “Hah! I like this one. Reminds me of myself when I was a kid.”
“You realize Verin is one of your brother’s favorites, right?”
“And you realize I could have this room on fire before you could blink? We can both point out the obvious here, but it ain’t gonna change nothin’.”
“You’ll get nowhere with him, Eviax. He already doesn’t like you.”
“Don’t assume. I don’t even know her! Although, I do have a bad history with treasures. Nothin’ to worry yourself with though. I already promised I wouldn’t cause any problems, so we’re on standard terms. I’ll even make you a drink if you ask nicely.”
The disgust on Haden’s face was enough to affect the air around him. It certainly didn’t change when detailed folders were handed around to everyone.
“Yer such a cocky bastard. That’s why I feckin hate ya. And yer drinks aren’t even that good!”
“Your boyfriend seems to like em just fine. Don't get pissy with me because Daenu decided to let her current fling massacre your house’s little pet fishes. Between you, Daenu and the rest of your house the brainpower is already at an all-time-”
“Okay!” Le’eroy interrupted before their conversation could go any further. “Let us all enjoy a most marvelous hunt and claim trophies worthy of our titles!”
“The fuck? Calm down, Little Moon. The last thing I need is you, as one of our designated leaders, actin’ like a child. At least try to make me feel like coming here wasn’t a massive mistake on my part.”
“You can’t be fuckin’ serious...”
A part of him was prepared to cut his losses and walk away right then and there. Not only was Le’eroy, one of the claimants he trusted the least, leading the personal group he was in, but the squad also consisted of two others he did not have an ounce of faith in. An aikekunai he would normally attempt to kill was their greeter, some would-be greater title for someone belonging to a house with a treasure which actively avoided him, and then there was Verin and Nica. Nica seemed almost useless to him, but that was natural when she relied on insects and he relied on setting entire areas ablaze. Verin seemed capable but, just as Gahbreal does, Hellfire also couldn’t see her as more than a child. The major difference being that he wouldn’t spoil her. Perhaps it was the strictness of his father's teachings or the mentality his mother paved into his mind, but there wasn't a part of him which could bring himself to even give any input.
“Yeeeeaaaah, fuck this. Y’all can talk this out. I’ll step in once things are sorted and clean up the mess.”
Things only managed to get worse as Verin and Nica began to discuss how to go about finding their targets. With Thyra being less than helpful it would leave most of the busy work to them. Most notably was the absolute travesty of having Le’eroy as their team leader. His plan was simple and effective... at least for him.
“The plan! We sniff them out, we hunt them down, and we KILL the heretics!”
“They wanted them alive.”
“...We sniff them out, we hunt them down, and we BEAT them into submission!”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Haden was entirely at his wits end. It’s not like it was hard to really locate the koi themselves as their habits were something he knew well enough, but the teams he was made to work with was something he’d personally best describe as minor capable, majority neanderthal. There was no doubt in his mind that Daenu had only allowed this blatant disrespect of their house only because Najya was involved. Meanwhile, he was personally of the mind that his house should handle the issue themselves. Anything less than that was more than a means to start a war, but Daenu only proved to piss him off with her choices more by the day.
“Daenu agrees? Daenu doesn’t give a solitary shite. Daenu don’t even care about her own feckin house! More concerned with entertainin’ playthings and showerin’ her favorites! Her own claimants be damned in the feckin process.”
While certainly not the calmest claimant in history, Haden had not been this peeved in quite some time. Considering Loic and Najya’s consistently less than modern personalities, Vivian’s nominal disposition and Nuvat simply being herself, it was more than easy to say the group in general wasn’t the most compatible overall. Sure, they could get the job done without issue, but they wouldn’t manage it without their fair share of problems.
Then there was Haden specifically. He didn’t care for Najya at all, he didn’t much care for Vivian outside of how much alcohol she could handle, and he disliked Nuvat simply for her connection to Stasia. In fact, he disliked Nuvat almost as much if not more than he did both Loic and Stasia. That was why the aikekunai’s glare was returned in kind. It had nothing to do with any personal choices, but rather entirely with how much he hated when anyone chose favorites. And in his mind every aikekunai was simply an over glorified favorite to their ancient. The only exception was Shinzo, and their relationship was the epitome of unstable on a regular day. Regardless of the reason now the entire exercise and existence of the group itself had only turned out to be a practice in how far he could be pushed before bursting. Each koi killed acting as an additional ice shard to the encroaching blizzard. As if he could personally hear their individual screams.
Nothing he, hopefully, couldn't temporarily solve with a drink.
