Marna's - Early Evening - Overcast
Eryk Nero
Eryk sighed heavily, running a hand down his face. He was in a foul mood, and the reason was the email he'd received earlier today from Marah. He hadn't understood the context of the message, vaguely making out things that were insulting Cyrilla, or insulting his own intelligence, but he didn't really care. What he cared about was the fact that she had the audacity to say she was going to have his engagement to Cy, annulled.
She could try.
It wouldn't work, and they both knew that. It was one of the requirements he had made. If they wanted him to continue to be an obedient member of the family, then Marah was just going to have to get used to having Cyrilla as a future daughter-in-law. Not that he was rushing their marriage, though. He knew they were both uncomfortable with it, but they also knew it had to happen eventually. Otherwise his mother would keep sending him shit that he didn't want to deal with.
It was the reason he was currently at Marna's, too. It was one of the very few places he could go to think. To clear his mind and not have to worry about what was going on outside. For some strange reason, Eryk had invited Kas and Aidan along. It wasn't like he minded the two of them, really. They were easy company to be in, and Eryk was sure from the look on both of their faces, they could use a drink, too. He'd just arrived before them.
Kas arrived first, giving Eryk a little wave before he approached the bar to put his order in with Marna. As usual, the place was pretty quiet—it didn't seem to do a whole lot of business, honestly, though it was hard to say why that was. The food was good, and the drinks were always cold. The building didn't look like much from the outside, though, and was a bit further back from the beach than most, though they could see the ocean from the side deck.
Heaving a sigh, Kas dropped into the chair directly across from him, folding his arms together on the tabletop and smiling a little wryly at him. "You look like you've had a hell of a day, Ryk," he observed, pouring from the pitcher of icewater on the table while he waited for his order.
“So do you," Eryk replied dryly, furrowing his brows lightly before rolling his eyes. “It was mostly fine up until the end," he stated, taking a drink of his beer. He hadn't asked for the stronger stuff yet, mostly because he didn't think he'd need it. Yet. He was hoping the beer would be sufficient enough to dissipate his current anger, and so far, it was. He pushed the bowl of nachos out in front of him, routine habit by now.
He always ordered a large amount of nachos in order to share with the other two whenever they came to Marah's, or anywhere they went that had nachos, really. He didn't necessarily mind sharing, though. He might have consumed food quite a bit, but this just felt right to him. Plus, he was almost certain the other two didn't mind.
“What about you? Why'd you look like shit, earlier?" he'd leave out Marah's email for now.
"Cy and I had a run in with that cop you mentioned a couple days ago. Hayes. We were with Ana at the time. He'd done his research in the meantime—at least normal background checks on all three of us. He knows the two of you are Koga, and he's uh... really fucking paranoid about how much time we're spending with her. Problem is, aside from the fact that he's a racist and an asshole, he's... kinda right about the rest of it, and she's not dumb." He drained half the glass of water and grimaced.
"So I've spent the last couple of days backdooring my way through the CIPD computer system, to try and figure out what they have on us. It's been... long." Marna appeared with his drink then, sliding it easily across the table with a smile and a nod. Kas caught it with a word of thanks. "Can you get another for both of us, Auntie? It's been that kind of day."
Her expression was sympathetic. “Seems to be goin' around," she noted, heading back to the bar.
Eryk furrowed his brows. That explained why Cyrilla was depressed. Hayes must have said something that made her that way. But Hayes wasn't wrong to be suspicious, though. This was only going to make their job so much harder. It wouldn't be hard at all if they'd just told her what the deal was, but Eryk couldn't be that stupid. Finding out if she was psychic was the priority. Seeing if she'd be willing to volunteer for whatever Project Nebula wouldn't be too hard, he didn't think, if she was.
“He's an ass who's going to make this much harder than it needs to be," Eryk muttered as he took a bite from his nachos. He chewed it and swallowed before turning back to Kas. “What else does he have on us, besides the obvious?" he asked. If there was more that Hayes could use against them, he needed to be prepared. They all did.
"Not sure yet," Kas admitted, taking up a couple of the nachos himself and popping them whole into his mouth. "I know the PD had files on all of us—and I mean everyone. The entire office, down to Mr. Bates." Bates was an elderly man who served as the mansion's night janitor. "So far it's basic stuff; criminal records, birth certificates, the kind of research you could do with a formal background check or a web search. Which is... well, a fair bit if you know what you're doing, but nothing confidential."
He took a large swig of what seemed to be a spiced cider, and leaned back in his chair. "Problem is, we seem to be the subject of an active investigation, which means I wouldn't put it past him to be doing shady shit, like trying to flip some of the grunts, or have us put under surveillance, or even just go digging a little further into our personal business. Legally, unless he suspects us of a crime, he can't use police resources for this, but that's the problem. We're all NTR. It's not going to be hard to get a judge to believe we have something to do with a crime, especially, say, that B&E we totally actually did at the breeding facility, which was apparently reported."
"Yeah but those fuckers were doing shady shit. We had probable cause." The new voice was Aidan's; he slid into the seat next to Eryk with a drink already in hand.
"We did," Kas said. "But the problem is the report alleges that someone stole things unrelated to that function of the facility or NTR. Personal belongings of an employee."
"Like fucking what?"
"A wallet, some jewelry. Look, it's totally bullshit. We all know it didn't happen. But the report was filed, the case is still open, and NTR is the obvious place to look for the 'thief.' So Captain Hayes has the perfect excuse to look into us all. It won't get him subpoenas for big stuff, but it's possible he could legally compel us to hand over some employee records, if he plays his cards right."
"Sonuvabitch probably had the employees file that theft report just for that, huh?" Aidan shook his head, looking faintly impressed almost despite himself.
"I'd bet money on it."
Eryk sighed heavily into his drink. Chances were if those items were stolen, it wasn't by any of the grunts. They all knew better than to try and jeopardize a mission like that, and it was why the few grunts that had gone, were ones that knew how to prioritize. Hayes was going to be a big thorn in all of their sides. Eryk could already feel it. He'd been lucky enough to be either at work or some place else when Hayes visited Anastasia. He furrowed his brows.
“I'm going to have to start locking the door to my room before I leave, now," he muttered softly. It wasn't that he didn't trust Anastasia, because he did. It was Hayes he didn't trust, and even if Anastasia told Hayes to stay out of Eryk's room, he knew the man would be stubborn and do something he ought not to. He also didn't bring his work home, so it wasn't as if Hayes would find anything.
The worst thing he'd probably find in Eryk's room was the old grey yukata he had with venomoth holes in it. Maybe he'd see if mankey would stay in his room? He immediately banished that thought. Mankey was still young and destructive. Eryk didn't have much in his room to begin with, but he really didn't want to have to replace a broken bed, or some other piece of furniture. He turned his attention towards Aidan, though.
“How are things on your end?" he asked.
Aidan shrugged. "Not horrific, I guess. Been reestablishing contact with a few of the people I know who are still in the pro-battling business. I shouldn't be your agent or anything—if a name like mine's too close to you, people are going to be too careful. But I can lean on things behind the scenes a little, put in a good word here and there, that kind of thing." He paused as Marna brought their food—they'd both taken to ordering things that could be shared like Eryk's nachos, though they switched more often. This time it looked like Aidan had bought a large quesadilla cut into several wedges, and Kas had ordered some assortment of battered and fried fish and vegetables with a few dipping sauces. They both pushed the dishes to the middle of the table, and Aidan handed out smaller plates as he continued.
"Of course, it's too early for any of that yet, so I'm basically just reminding people that I'm around, indicating a bit of interest in returning to the scene, that kind of shit. I hate the politics of this and I always have, but there's some people who can manage to do it without being obnoxious."
"Gotta be careful with that or there'll be rumors of a comeback in no time," Kas noted, dipping what seemed to be a fried pineapple slice in the sauce.
Aidan rolled his eyes, giving his head a shake. "There's gonna be those no matter what I do. Someone'll mention talking to me, someone else'll hear it, and in the offseason like it'll be soon, they'll start a rumor on a slow news day, just to generate interest. It's how this shit works. I know about as much about the pro-battling scene as you seem to know about cops, Rheinallt." He arched a brow, as if inviting explanation.
"Stepmom's a lawyer," Kas explained.
Nodding, Aidan turned to Eryk. "What's eating you, Nero?" he asked bluntly, taking a bite of quesadilla.
Eryk furrowed his brows for a moment before he realized Aidan hadn't meant that statement literally. He swallowed the bit of nachos he had in his mouth, before answering, “My mother," he stated, brows furrowing deeply. He didn't generally hate people, but he'd decided awhile ago that his mother wasn't a person. He wasn't sure what she was; a mother, though, she was not.
“You were Katia's superior a few years ago, right?" he stated, arching a brow at Aidan. “I'm sure she was bitter about it then as she seems to be now, and talked," he stated, shaking his head softly. Katia never seemed to be able to contain her emotions that way. Kas, of course, didn't know who Katia was, and he turned towards the man to explain.
“Katia's family is the oldest branch not directly related to the Koga main branch. She was originally supposed to marry me before I agreed to Cyrilla's parent's proposal. Marah is still trying to find ways to have our engagement annulled so that Katia can be the next head of the family. If that doesn't work, she's trying to get Cyrilla and I... married sooner," he sneered at the thought. He didn't understand the way Marah's or Katia's mind worked. If Katia had married him, she would only be the Head's wife, not the Head, herself.
He decided to leave out the heir portion of that, though. It was too disturbing a thought to dwell on. He just didn't see Cyrilla that way, and he doubted they'd even be able to do as Marah seemed to want.
Even if he hadn't said it directly, though, Kas and Aidan were the furthest thing from stupid. He saw the moment Kas connected the dots; he made a vaguely-horrified expression and shuddered. It didn't even look exaggerated.
Aidan just regarded Eryk for a moment with something that looked very much like sympathy before expelling a breath through his nose. "Katia talks, yeah," he said simply, leaning back and extracting a cigarette from the box in his pocket. Once he'd lit it, he leaned back a little, making sure the smoke was drifting out over the deck instead of towards either of them. "You know, I used to think some of my exes were a pain in the ass, but lately I've been thinking I got off easy in that department, and it was still enough to push me out of the game completely." He shook his head. "Not that she's an ex of yours, but..." he waved his free hand vaguely as he took a sip of his drink with the one holding the cigarette.
"Fuck that noise," Kas said emphatically, though it wasn't clear exactly what he was agreeing with. It did seem to be an agreement, though. "Rich people are nuts. No offense, Ryk, but fucking arceus, man. Is your mom like... nagging you to have the ceremony soon or whatever?"
“Soon, yes," he answered, taking a long drink of his beer. “I've managed to convince her to wait until the end of the year because this mission is top priority. Even she doesn't have that much influence to try and interfere with it," he stated. His family may have been part of Team Rocket since its inception, but Giovanni no longer controlled it. It was Gregorovich, and if this mission was as important to him as Eryk thought it was, then he knew that his family couldn't do shit without incurring Gregorovich's wrath.
He pursed his lips, though, as he stared at his drink. “I'm still trying to figure out ways to get her out, though," he admitted. He hadn't found any, of course, but he was looking. If he could get Cy out of the family, somehow, then he wouldn't have to subjugate her being tied to him for the rest of their lives. He knew she wouldn't complain if they were married; she might even be happy that it was him, but it was something he knew neither of them wanted.
“Unfortunately families like ours are complicated, and not easy to leave." Born a Koga, always a Koga. That was how their family operated. He threw back the rest of his drink and started on the second one.
"Leave the family, huh?" Aidan sighed quietly. "Sounds rough." He pushed a heavy breath out through his nose as Kas continued to eat evenly from most of the plates, a contemplative expression on his face.
"I guess it's probably not quite as simple as like... her and you both marrying someone else, right? Like they'd try to do something to stop it if you made it clear that's what was happening?"
Eryk wouldn't lie and say he hadn't thought of that option, but it wasn't possible. If they did marry someone else, that person would be subjected to the family, and that was something neither of them wanted to do. He pushed a sigh through his nose.
“It's not that simple, no. If Cy or I married someone, it wouldn't be us leaving; it would be that person becoming part of the Koga family, and not a lot of people could endure that. It would, however, stop them from trying to push another arrangement on us. My family may be one of the oldest, but there are things even they couldn't do," such as marry him or Cyrilla to someone else if they were already married.
"Sounds like you two need to find yourselves a coupla badasses," Kas remarked. It was light, but he didn't seem to be minimizing things, either. "Or do something so terrible they kick you out of the family. What do Kogas like to do? Kick lillipups? Snatch candy from babies? Plot world domination? Honestly they sound kind of like ridiculous cartoon villains. Not that I'm doubting you guys about what they're like," he amended quickly, and apparently quite sincerely.
"Does that mean they'd kick him out if he became real-life Crobatman or something?" Aidan snorted softly.
Kas chuckled. "He's already got the 'eccentric rich guy with badass ninja training' part down." His smile faded a little, though, and he tilted his head at Eryk. "If there's ever any way I can help though, man, just say the word. I ain't afraid of no ninjas. My old man raised me better than that." Though the words sounded a bit like a joke he'd make, he seemed to mean it as a serious offer.
With a small nod, Aidan added, "same here. Plus it'd piss off Katia and she deserves it after all the crap I've put up with from her, so. You'd be helping me, actually."
Eryk felt the corners of his lips tilt up into something he hadn't been able to do for a while: smile. “I don't suppose either of you would mind marrying me for a while," he stated, rolling his eyes a bit and taking a bite out of his nachos.
"I'm telling you, you literally can't be worse than my ex," Aidan replied, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
"Yeah, I'd do it," Kas replied with a shrug and a soft laugh. "So, you know, two excellent back-up plans if worse comes to worst or whatever."
Eryk rolled his eyes, but that strange smile still hadn't left his face. “Not sure if they're excellent back-up plans, but it is nice, I suppose, to know they're there."
This had... turned out better than he thought it would.
She could try.
It wouldn't work, and they both knew that. It was one of the requirements he had made. If they wanted him to continue to be an obedient member of the family, then Marah was just going to have to get used to having Cyrilla as a future daughter-in-law. Not that he was rushing their marriage, though. He knew they were both uncomfortable with it, but they also knew it had to happen eventually. Otherwise his mother would keep sending him shit that he didn't want to deal with.
It was the reason he was currently at Marna's, too. It was one of the very few places he could go to think. To clear his mind and not have to worry about what was going on outside. For some strange reason, Eryk had invited Kas and Aidan along. It wasn't like he minded the two of them, really. They were easy company to be in, and Eryk was sure from the look on both of their faces, they could use a drink, too. He'd just arrived before them.
Kas arrived first, giving Eryk a little wave before he approached the bar to put his order in with Marna. As usual, the place was pretty quiet—it didn't seem to do a whole lot of business, honestly, though it was hard to say why that was. The food was good, and the drinks were always cold. The building didn't look like much from the outside, though, and was a bit further back from the beach than most, though they could see the ocean from the side deck.
Heaving a sigh, Kas dropped into the chair directly across from him, folding his arms together on the tabletop and smiling a little wryly at him. "You look like you've had a hell of a day, Ryk," he observed, pouring from the pitcher of icewater on the table while he waited for his order.
“So do you," Eryk replied dryly, furrowing his brows lightly before rolling his eyes. “It was mostly fine up until the end," he stated, taking a drink of his beer. He hadn't asked for the stronger stuff yet, mostly because he didn't think he'd need it. Yet. He was hoping the beer would be sufficient enough to dissipate his current anger, and so far, it was. He pushed the bowl of nachos out in front of him, routine habit by now.
He always ordered a large amount of nachos in order to share with the other two whenever they came to Marah's, or anywhere they went that had nachos, really. He didn't necessarily mind sharing, though. He might have consumed food quite a bit, but this just felt right to him. Plus, he was almost certain the other two didn't mind.
“What about you? Why'd you look like shit, earlier?" he'd leave out Marah's email for now.
"Cy and I had a run in with that cop you mentioned a couple days ago. Hayes. We were with Ana at the time. He'd done his research in the meantime—at least normal background checks on all three of us. He knows the two of you are Koga, and he's uh... really fucking paranoid about how much time we're spending with her. Problem is, aside from the fact that he's a racist and an asshole, he's... kinda right about the rest of it, and she's not dumb." He drained half the glass of water and grimaced.
"So I've spent the last couple of days backdooring my way through the CIPD computer system, to try and figure out what they have on us. It's been... long." Marna appeared with his drink then, sliding it easily across the table with a smile and a nod. Kas caught it with a word of thanks. "Can you get another for both of us, Auntie? It's been that kind of day."
Her expression was sympathetic. “Seems to be goin' around," she noted, heading back to the bar.
Eryk furrowed his brows. That explained why Cyrilla was depressed. Hayes must have said something that made her that way. But Hayes wasn't wrong to be suspicious, though. This was only going to make their job so much harder. It wouldn't be hard at all if they'd just told her what the deal was, but Eryk couldn't be that stupid. Finding out if she was psychic was the priority. Seeing if she'd be willing to volunteer for whatever Project Nebula wouldn't be too hard, he didn't think, if she was.
“He's an ass who's going to make this much harder than it needs to be," Eryk muttered as he took a bite from his nachos. He chewed it and swallowed before turning back to Kas. “What else does he have on us, besides the obvious?" he asked. If there was more that Hayes could use against them, he needed to be prepared. They all did.
"Not sure yet," Kas admitted, taking up a couple of the nachos himself and popping them whole into his mouth. "I know the PD had files on all of us—and I mean everyone. The entire office, down to Mr. Bates." Bates was an elderly man who served as the mansion's night janitor. "So far it's basic stuff; criminal records, birth certificates, the kind of research you could do with a formal background check or a web search. Which is... well, a fair bit if you know what you're doing, but nothing confidential."
He took a large swig of what seemed to be a spiced cider, and leaned back in his chair. "Problem is, we seem to be the subject of an active investigation, which means I wouldn't put it past him to be doing shady shit, like trying to flip some of the grunts, or have us put under surveillance, or even just go digging a little further into our personal business. Legally, unless he suspects us of a crime, he can't use police resources for this, but that's the problem. We're all NTR. It's not going to be hard to get a judge to believe we have something to do with a crime, especially, say, that B&E we totally actually did at the breeding facility, which was apparently reported."
"Yeah but those fuckers were doing shady shit. We had probable cause." The new voice was Aidan's; he slid into the seat next to Eryk with a drink already in hand.
"We did," Kas said. "But the problem is the report alleges that someone stole things unrelated to that function of the facility or NTR. Personal belongings of an employee."
"Like fucking what?"
"A wallet, some jewelry. Look, it's totally bullshit. We all know it didn't happen. But the report was filed, the case is still open, and NTR is the obvious place to look for the 'thief.' So Captain Hayes has the perfect excuse to look into us all. It won't get him subpoenas for big stuff, but it's possible he could legally compel us to hand over some employee records, if he plays his cards right."
"Sonuvabitch probably had the employees file that theft report just for that, huh?" Aidan shook his head, looking faintly impressed almost despite himself.
"I'd bet money on it."
Eryk sighed heavily into his drink. Chances were if those items were stolen, it wasn't by any of the grunts. They all knew better than to try and jeopardize a mission like that, and it was why the few grunts that had gone, were ones that knew how to prioritize. Hayes was going to be a big thorn in all of their sides. Eryk could already feel it. He'd been lucky enough to be either at work or some place else when Hayes visited Anastasia. He furrowed his brows.
“I'm going to have to start locking the door to my room before I leave, now," he muttered softly. It wasn't that he didn't trust Anastasia, because he did. It was Hayes he didn't trust, and even if Anastasia told Hayes to stay out of Eryk's room, he knew the man would be stubborn and do something he ought not to. He also didn't bring his work home, so it wasn't as if Hayes would find anything.
The worst thing he'd probably find in Eryk's room was the old grey yukata he had with venomoth holes in it. Maybe he'd see if mankey would stay in his room? He immediately banished that thought. Mankey was still young and destructive. Eryk didn't have much in his room to begin with, but he really didn't want to have to replace a broken bed, or some other piece of furniture. He turned his attention towards Aidan, though.
“How are things on your end?" he asked.
Aidan shrugged. "Not horrific, I guess. Been reestablishing contact with a few of the people I know who are still in the pro-battling business. I shouldn't be your agent or anything—if a name like mine's too close to you, people are going to be too careful. But I can lean on things behind the scenes a little, put in a good word here and there, that kind of thing." He paused as Marna brought their food—they'd both taken to ordering things that could be shared like Eryk's nachos, though they switched more often. This time it looked like Aidan had bought a large quesadilla cut into several wedges, and Kas had ordered some assortment of battered and fried fish and vegetables with a few dipping sauces. They both pushed the dishes to the middle of the table, and Aidan handed out smaller plates as he continued.
"Of course, it's too early for any of that yet, so I'm basically just reminding people that I'm around, indicating a bit of interest in returning to the scene, that kind of shit. I hate the politics of this and I always have, but there's some people who can manage to do it without being obnoxious."
"Gotta be careful with that or there'll be rumors of a comeback in no time," Kas noted, dipping what seemed to be a fried pineapple slice in the sauce.
Aidan rolled his eyes, giving his head a shake. "There's gonna be those no matter what I do. Someone'll mention talking to me, someone else'll hear it, and in the offseason like it'll be soon, they'll start a rumor on a slow news day, just to generate interest. It's how this shit works. I know about as much about the pro-battling scene as you seem to know about cops, Rheinallt." He arched a brow, as if inviting explanation.
"Stepmom's a lawyer," Kas explained.
Nodding, Aidan turned to Eryk. "What's eating you, Nero?" he asked bluntly, taking a bite of quesadilla.
Eryk furrowed his brows for a moment before he realized Aidan hadn't meant that statement literally. He swallowed the bit of nachos he had in his mouth, before answering, “My mother," he stated, brows furrowing deeply. He didn't generally hate people, but he'd decided awhile ago that his mother wasn't a person. He wasn't sure what she was; a mother, though, she was not.
“You were Katia's superior a few years ago, right?" he stated, arching a brow at Aidan. “I'm sure she was bitter about it then as she seems to be now, and talked," he stated, shaking his head softly. Katia never seemed to be able to contain her emotions that way. Kas, of course, didn't know who Katia was, and he turned towards the man to explain.
“Katia's family is the oldest branch not directly related to the Koga main branch. She was originally supposed to marry me before I agreed to Cyrilla's parent's proposal. Marah is still trying to find ways to have our engagement annulled so that Katia can be the next head of the family. If that doesn't work, she's trying to get Cyrilla and I... married sooner," he sneered at the thought. He didn't understand the way Marah's or Katia's mind worked. If Katia had married him, she would only be the Head's wife, not the Head, herself.
He decided to leave out the heir portion of that, though. It was too disturbing a thought to dwell on. He just didn't see Cyrilla that way, and he doubted they'd even be able to do as Marah seemed to want.
Even if he hadn't said it directly, though, Kas and Aidan were the furthest thing from stupid. He saw the moment Kas connected the dots; he made a vaguely-horrified expression and shuddered. It didn't even look exaggerated.
Aidan just regarded Eryk for a moment with something that looked very much like sympathy before expelling a breath through his nose. "Katia talks, yeah," he said simply, leaning back and extracting a cigarette from the box in his pocket. Once he'd lit it, he leaned back a little, making sure the smoke was drifting out over the deck instead of towards either of them. "You know, I used to think some of my exes were a pain in the ass, but lately I've been thinking I got off easy in that department, and it was still enough to push me out of the game completely." He shook his head. "Not that she's an ex of yours, but..." he waved his free hand vaguely as he took a sip of his drink with the one holding the cigarette.
"Fuck that noise," Kas said emphatically, though it wasn't clear exactly what he was agreeing with. It did seem to be an agreement, though. "Rich people are nuts. No offense, Ryk, but fucking arceus, man. Is your mom like... nagging you to have the ceremony soon or whatever?"
“Soon, yes," he answered, taking a long drink of his beer. “I've managed to convince her to wait until the end of the year because this mission is top priority. Even she doesn't have that much influence to try and interfere with it," he stated. His family may have been part of Team Rocket since its inception, but Giovanni no longer controlled it. It was Gregorovich, and if this mission was as important to him as Eryk thought it was, then he knew that his family couldn't do shit without incurring Gregorovich's wrath.
He pursed his lips, though, as he stared at his drink. “I'm still trying to figure out ways to get her out, though," he admitted. He hadn't found any, of course, but he was looking. If he could get Cy out of the family, somehow, then he wouldn't have to subjugate her being tied to him for the rest of their lives. He knew she wouldn't complain if they were married; she might even be happy that it was him, but it was something he knew neither of them wanted.
“Unfortunately families like ours are complicated, and not easy to leave." Born a Koga, always a Koga. That was how their family operated. He threw back the rest of his drink and started on the second one.
"Leave the family, huh?" Aidan sighed quietly. "Sounds rough." He pushed a heavy breath out through his nose as Kas continued to eat evenly from most of the plates, a contemplative expression on his face.
"I guess it's probably not quite as simple as like... her and you both marrying someone else, right? Like they'd try to do something to stop it if you made it clear that's what was happening?"
Eryk wouldn't lie and say he hadn't thought of that option, but it wasn't possible. If they did marry someone else, that person would be subjected to the family, and that was something neither of them wanted to do. He pushed a sigh through his nose.
“It's not that simple, no. If Cy or I married someone, it wouldn't be us leaving; it would be that person becoming part of the Koga family, and not a lot of people could endure that. It would, however, stop them from trying to push another arrangement on us. My family may be one of the oldest, but there are things even they couldn't do," such as marry him or Cyrilla to someone else if they were already married.
"Sounds like you two need to find yourselves a coupla badasses," Kas remarked. It was light, but he didn't seem to be minimizing things, either. "Or do something so terrible they kick you out of the family. What do Kogas like to do? Kick lillipups? Snatch candy from babies? Plot world domination? Honestly they sound kind of like ridiculous cartoon villains. Not that I'm doubting you guys about what they're like," he amended quickly, and apparently quite sincerely.
"Does that mean they'd kick him out if he became real-life Crobatman or something?" Aidan snorted softly.
Kas chuckled. "He's already got the 'eccentric rich guy with badass ninja training' part down." His smile faded a little, though, and he tilted his head at Eryk. "If there's ever any way I can help though, man, just say the word. I ain't afraid of no ninjas. My old man raised me better than that." Though the words sounded a bit like a joke he'd make, he seemed to mean it as a serious offer.
With a small nod, Aidan added, "same here. Plus it'd piss off Katia and she deserves it after all the crap I've put up with from her, so. You'd be helping me, actually."
Eryk felt the corners of his lips tilt up into something he hadn't been able to do for a while: smile. “I don't suppose either of you would mind marrying me for a while," he stated, rolling his eyes a bit and taking a bite out of his nachos.
"I'm telling you, you literally can't be worse than my ex," Aidan replied, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
"Yeah, I'd do it," Kas replied with a shrug and a soft laugh. "So, you know, two excellent back-up plans if worse comes to worst or whatever."
Eryk rolled his eyes, but that strange smile still hadn't left his face. “Not sure if they're excellent back-up plans, but it is nice, I suppose, to know they're there."
This had... turned out better than he thought it would.