"A pair… You with them?"
Ah, so she was being vein. He was thinking of more.
"With who? Who's them?"
He stared longer. His creature stepped closer.
Her reactor was fully active, perhaps there'd been a change in staff. Because everything in her was efficient, almost impeccable. Her heart revving, toes curling, skin crawling, muscles loose.
He turned away, facing Drake. "And you? Boy. You one of them?"
She cut in.
"No, we are-"
"Just high school kids right?" He finished for her.
Naya's warning bells screamed, howled. But that was a mechanised system turning on. It was not an invisible force screaming for someone to press a big shinning red button. It was a switch with a red flap over it that'd been unlocked and lifted, the switch being calmly flipped. Sterile pale white light had gone red and everyone inside was following procedure. A checklist was being filled, scanned and copied into a server with its name already there. Pain receptors were turned off, adrenaline reserves put to use. She needed her weapon back, but it was already long put away. She reached for her spot in the mist and his head snapped to her immediately. Her soul froze. Whoever was holding back her bladder fumbled a switch, thankfully only a drop loosed.
"Do I know you?" Drake asked.
Naya breathed. The man thought about it too long for her liking.
"No, I guess I just have that kind of face." He sneered.
"Ha, maybe," Drake, the imbecile laughed.
"So there are others out there that come here too then?" Naya tried.
"Of course."
"A lot?" Naya asked.
"Once," The main said with a smirk.
"Because of "them" or you?" Naya asked.
Oh shit, someone had turned on the 'displaying spine' switch. What control was there disappeared, options vanishing.
The man's head cocked to the side. "What makes you say that?"
He was engaging, answering questions, what did it mean? She'd no idea. What she knew was that she was knee deep in trouble.
And 'Display Spine' hadn't been turned off… oh well…
"Because you're having a great time. While a peice of Japan is on fire, you're here, playing with water. Building for something. At first I thought to help but the current started before the fire. Not only that but when you saw us, you came right at us. You asked if we were one of 'them'. That tells me two things, well three. One, you know exactly what's going on. Two, you were about to join the fight in whatever that was and you're worried we're one of 'them' meaning the fight was coming to you, and you'd planned on fighting whatever was left over but… here we come, fresher, easier stupider fish on a plate to guarantee you a good time?"
The grin that followed could have swallowed solar systems.
"So the last one. We your first?"
To even her surprise, the grin widened.
"So that's a no."
She started reaching for her mist.
"We the youngest?"
The grin. So no…
"Is it even close?"
"What's happening?" Drake asked at risk of having a clue.
"Any hope I can talk you out of this?"
The grin.
"Okay, what about leaving him out?"
"He'd leave you behind?"
His entire demeanour changed.
"No but I had to ask. You look disappointed in him. I also wanted to know if you knew he wasn't the type. You know him but… disappointed isn't the same as denial. If you actually knew him. You'd know he'd never and you wouldn't have doubted him. So acquaintance, someone you see now and then."
"That's really clever."
"Well that and he couldn't recognise you. But if I could lie to him… never mind, your face is already saying no."
"Not necessarily." He almost hissed, few people in the world were capable of having more fun than him.
"So… you're willing to let me try?" She said, terrified and hopeful.
He nodded and her horse ambled around his triceratops to Drake's troll but it stepped forward blocking her, making a triangle.
"That's close enough. Don't want you to try anything." He all but purred, bronzed old wiry men were not allowed to purr!
"Fair enough."
She looked up to Drake who simply looked wide eyed… and simple…
She was being mean. Naya's follow up smile was so innocent it needed its own halo.
"Hey Drake, you're a pretty big guy. But I think you're a sharp and quick guy. Which his why I need you to be pretty damn sharp because that man knows you. I don't know how, but he does."
"What the hell are you doing?"
"He's going to kill both of us because he's a serial killer."
"Big mistake!"
"But we have one hope and it needs you to duck!"
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