Snippet #2707337

Red was far from foolish enough to sleep in the same room as the dragonoid. Luckily, he didn't have to. As the morning rolled around Red stepped from the crimson room, pushing out the fridge behind which his door was set. Shutting the door, letting it fade back in an old stain of blood on the wall, he pushed the fridge back into place and walked out into the room.

“Wake up Red. Time to have some breakfast and chat with out boss.” the dragonoid greeted him with some news, clearly not aware that he was definitely awake, not to mention he was never asleep anywhere near him the first place. Little oversights.

Red stepped into the hallway where the rest of them flowed into the chambers as requested. Who awaited them was not Alexia but instead a man who was a bit taller in stature. He seemed to be taking each one of them in visually, scanning them thoroughly as they entered. Rather than approach the table where this man had set out various breakfast items Red went over to lean on the wall near the door, crossing his arms and taking the man's appearance in as well.


"Alexia sends her regards. She will occupied for a while and not with us. In her place, I am Valen. All that you need to be aware of right now is that my word is the same as her word. You are free to ask questions, but remember. If myself or Alexia say that a subject is off-limits, then the question will be dropped. I've attempted to make a fair deal of breakfast and snack items please enjoy."

Red made no move for the food, nor did he care. He did not need to eat as mundanes did and nothing here was particularly new. Instead he kept his focus on the man who was stepping in on behalf of Alexia, supposedly. In his line of work Red knew that any sudden and unexplained changes always had hidden caveats. His expression remained one of casual aloofness but he regarded this man with a fair grain of suspicion.

"As of this moment, you will only have four persons in your care for this trip at any given time. More may be recruited, but myself and Alexia will not both be present. She will return just before we make the crossing to her home world. When she returns, I will return to my own duties as well."


He had the comportment not to grin but he started seeing at least a part of the picture. Valen was quite poor at masking the fact that he and Alexia wouldn't be seen in the same room together. Like a bad liar he was covering details no one would of asked for some time, bringing attention to the idiosyncrasies of his arrival and her disappearance. Red wasn't about to start drawing up any conclusions but it was certainly interesting that it's expressly stated that he and Alexia will not be seen together, like as if they were stuck in opposite sides of a mirror.

"I'll be sure to pass your words to the scary cat lady when I meet her again. And yes, she is angry, and you would do to remember that."

That was an awfully interesting thing for Alexia to mention to her colleague when they swapped out. It left Red to wonder what else Alexia discussed with her previously unmentioned right hand man, that is, if they discussed any of this at all.

"So, any other questions? Or do I get lucky and this is kept short?"

Red simply chuckled lightly.

"No. I'll take the luxury of assuming your associate Alexia disclosed our private contracts amongst the wealth of other closely held thoughts she relinquished to you."

He casually waved a hand aside whilst folding the other behind his back. A strange bruise had started to form along the middle of his palm, the discoloration forming along a specific series of unseen lines. Few would be foolish enough to say Red wasn't often prepared for many outcomes in any situation.

"Also, I noticed the threads you left about the room... Rather simple I must say."