Snippet #2624685

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A few moments later…

Onyx peered down at the girl with disgruntled eyes narrowed at her with immeasurable precision. He had his arm tightly crossed and began to tap the ground with his foot, meanwhile his partner’s tail wagged at a slow rate, a sign that she was preparing for the lecture to come. ”Alright Liz… Do you mind going over the rules we emplaced five years ago?” After wracking through what seemed to be a head only filled with air, the girl suddenly perked up and began to wave her hand eagerly. ”Yes! Rule One, no sneaking into Onyx’s bed! Rule Two, do bathing with Onyx! Rule Three, no intruding upon Onyx while he’s relieving himself!”

”Then don’t disregard the rules if you know them.” Although it was uttered in a low-key tone, in Onyx’s respect, Liz considered it his way of shouting, to which she flailed her arms and rolled over to the farther side of the bed in retreat. The boy only sighed and shook his head in grief. ”Seriously, my heart can’t take it. Anyways… I’ll get the ingredients ready.” Their room was practically a large enclave, split up into smaller sections with their own specific uses, excluding the bathroom which was sectioned off by the only other door. Onyx sluggishly paced his way over to the kitchen counter and began the process of sifting through unorganized shelves for random cooking supplies. After ascertaining an assortment of ingredients, he diverted his attention to accessing the proper silverware. Onyx had eased his fingers around a drawer’s knob when his partner suddenly spoke up.

”It looks nice outside, doesn’t it?” He froze on the spot. The ebullient voice which was just yelping about was replaced by a nonchalant tone. The summoner slowly turned to gaze upon the comrade resting on her knees, her back to the boy as she gazed out the sole window. Rather than the usual dual-delineations of black, her hair was of a fluorescent pink, an almost blinding hue. Onyx could barely make out a sliver of the mask covering her face, ”Oh, it’s you Gamma. In all honesty, it’s the same view everyday. Nothing noteworthy about it.” The girl made a light chuckle before continuing on. ”How long have we been here? Two months. We would usually be moving on for the next town by now. But from the looks of it, you do not have any intent to depart from Ivalice any time soon. I wonder what has you so anchored to this town?”

The way she spoke was refined, with each word meticulously chosen, but there was always that tinge of lingering melancholy in Gamma’s voice. Onyx knew why she was so apologetic, but attempts he’s made to reassure her have failed. She was definitely the most puzzling of the three personalities. ”I wonder too… Not even I can muster a valid reason. I want to say it’s because of that guild, but it wouldn’t sadden me in the slightest if I suddenly dropped out.” The firm statement was nothing but the truth, FoxTrot was just something to do to Onyx. At least, that’s how he felt at the moment. The girl sighed and began turning her face towards him. Upon her rotations, the locks of pink transitioned into longer conglomerations of black. Liz’s stared directly into Onyx’s eyes, greeting him with an endearing smile, backed up by the glistening light shining through the window.

”Eeeeeeeeh? Was that Gamma just now? She should stop by more often.” The girl made a haphazard giggle to which Onyx only shook his head yet again. He turned around and lifted the lid of the coffee bean jar. His heart sank into his stomach at the dwindling reserves. The guy nearly dropped dead on the spot but managed to remain attached to the living world. ”Liz…”

”Yeah?” The familiar responded with a tilted head. Onyx suddenly spun around to face her and balled up his fist.

”We have to cook!”

”Don’t say that with such certainty!” She yelped and began to flail her arms at his abrupt declaration. ”And you don’t even cook coffee! Leave it to Will!” As soon as she mentioned their companion, they both began to look around the room for the little creature.

”Wil-?” Onyx was caught off mid-sentence as a flash of orange flew out of a cabinet and into his face, completely encompassing his vision. He held back thoughts of pumpkin stew and plucked the being right off. A pumpkin head, supported by an invisible body enveloped by a cape, and a pair of white gloves connected by nonexistent appendages, that was Will. It began to frivolously wave its hands in apology and wizzed off towards the arrangement of ingredients. ”Say, Liz. How about we grab some groceries before today’s tourney. You know how Beta is when she’s not fighting on a full stomach.” Liz grinned and leaped off the bed, accepting the proposal with alacrity. ”But before that… Put some proper clothes on. Now.”

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Liz jumped out of the shop’s door, parading about with the bag of chock full of coffee beans in hand. ”Drop it and you pay for a second one.” Stated Onyx who followed behind, slumped over as if he was sleep-walking. The constant yawns that left his lips would be able to support such a claim. His familiar whimpered and settled down from her procession. ”That should be almost everything on the list. Just another shop or two…” He looked down at the bag clenched in her hand and reluctantly held out his own. ”Girls shouldn’t have to carry around wares when a guy is present.” Liz tilted her head at her partner, then noticed what he meant. She gave the boy a warm smile and guided the bag’s plastic straps onto his arm. ”Your mother taught you a few courtesies, I see. Kinda nostalgic, right?” Onyx clicked his tongue at the girl’s reminiscing. ”Tch. Nothing nostalgic about those memories. The woman could’ve chosen any of our butlers to accompany her, yet she’d always drag me from practicing to carry her stuff. Worst part about it, pricings didn’t derail her at all. She definitely exercised her position in the higher echelons.” A chill ran down his back just thinking about the woman. He tugged on his scarf and motioned for Liz to follow.

”We’ll drop all of this off and then head out for the tourney after a meal. I feel sorry for Will, having to make breakfast with that sub-par supply of leftovers.” As the two strolled through the streets, merchants sold their wares and other pedestrians rushed to their jobs. All passerbys noted the insignias residing on their chests, a smiling fox which was superfluously intimidating. It’s as if the guildmaster wanted all members to get into brawls. ”Hey, today’s the first time we get to personally meet our partner? I wonder what she’s like. I hope she has a few spare plushies~.” Onyx would be lying if he said he wasn’t slightly interested in Seraphiel’s aptitude in combat. He only caught a few glimpses of her during the past two weeks, and made no attempt to reach out to her.

”I just wonder how Beta’ll react towards her. Hope Sera doesn’t mind cursing.” Liz suddenly linked arms with Onyx and began to yank him in a completely different direction. ”Cafeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”