Marna's - Afternoon - Windy
Eryk Nero
Eryk threw back the drink in his hand a lot quicker than he wanted. It burned on the way down; vodka always had a tendency to do that, but he didn't mind right now. He'd received word about an hour ago that Katia would be arriving on Cinnabar Island within the next hour or so, and he wanted to be as drunk as he possibly could. It probably wasn't the best plan to go with, but he really didn't want to deal with her right now. Anastasia still had a light cold, though she looked like she was recovering nicely. Pushing the thought away, he sighed heavily and glanced at the other two.
He'd invited them along mostly because he didn't want to be alone when Katia showed up. Aidan had previous experience in dealing with her, but Kas was new to the whole thing. He felt a little bad for bringing Kas into it, but he'd wanted to be, apparently. Pushing a sigh through his nose, he shook his head faintly.
“Are you ready?" he asked, though he wasn't sure why. He sort of already knew the answer to it.
"No," Aidan replied in a grumble. He was drinking much more slowly than Eryk, but had also already made his way through two cigarettes and was starting in on a third. "No one's ever ready to deal with Katia. And if you think you are, that just means you're even more not than those of us who know better."
"Yikes," Kas replied, sipping from his beer. He was pretty relaxed, to all appearances, but then he was the one who had no idea what they were in for. "Also, not to like... make it worse or anything, but do we have a plan for what to do if she wants to like... visit the shelter or something? I can't imagine letting her talk to Ana is anyone's idea of a good time."
“First off," Eryk began, narrowing his eyes a bit in Kas's direction, “she has no business at Ana's shelter. This is our mission; she's not allowed to interfere with it unless she gets permission from Gregorovich." Eryk doubted Gregorovich would consent because this was time-sensitive, and Katia was not exactly the type of person you sent in for missions that required something of a delicate approach.
“Secondly, you're not wrong," he added, turning in Aidan's direction. “No one is ever ready to deal with her shit. She'll be here in the next hour or so; I suggest we figure out the best course of action to take so that she doesn't fuck anything up." All of his hard work would be for naught if she somehow let something slip. And if it messed with either him or Cyrilla, Eryk knew she would do it on purpose.
"Rheinallt has a fair point, though," Aidan murmured around the cigarette. "She could easily just introduce herself as your relative. And if you told Ana she was visiting, it might be stranger for her not to stop by the place you're living. Or at least I could see her using that as an excuse. If we want to head her off before she gets the chance to do anything like that..." he hummed.
"Why not, uh... volunteer the info?" Kas shrugged when Aidan looked at him curiously. "You, as her former teammate, do her a 'solid' and brief her on Ryk's current missions and stuff. Make it clear that he's doing important shit for Gregorovich that she can't mess with in the process. She gets the impression you're at least kinda willing to play ball with her plans, she learns not to go for that angle, awkward collision avoided."
Eryk arched a brow at the suggestion. It might help in that sense if Katia knew what he was doing. It would give her a reason to back off for now, and wouldn't necessarily jeopardize whatever they had going on. If Aidan fed Katia the information, it would get her off of his and Ana's back. That was the most important thing, right now. He blinked a bit when he realized which direction his thoughts had taken. Ana and this mission were the most important things right now. It was the mission that was important.
“You said you would take one for the team, might as well make it this. And..." Eryk paused as he narrowed his eyes somewhat, “she might just tell you things that will help us in the long run, too. She's more willing to listen to you than to anyone else who isn't Gregorovich or part of the family." Katia never shut up about things like that, and part of Ryk wondered if Katia had something for the man. He huffed lightly at the thought.
“Just be careful or she'll decide you're her next target."
"Not funny, Nero," Aidan replied, though the irregularity in the smoke cloud he exhaled somehow suggested inaudible laughter. "But sure. I'll make sure she knows, I guess." He picked up his low tumbler of whiskey and took a sip, setting it back down on the table with a soft thud.
"She coming in by boat, or taking a charter plane in?" he asked suddenly, but a moment later, the reason became clear. A small aircraft droned in the distance, audible even over the wind. They weren't especially common on the island—boat transport was the standard, though there was a small local airport on the backisland where planes could be chartered in and out.
Eryk groaned lightly, and downed his sixth or eighth shot of vodka. He couldn't really remember what number he was on. “She's coming by plane; something about it taking too long on a boat," he answered. “She's a little early if that's her plane, but it wouldn't be the first time she's lied about the time she'd be somewhere."
Really, Eryk should have known better. Katia was always early to the places she'd say she was going to. If she said an hour, it'd likely be anywhere from fifteen to twenty minutes. She just liked to make people panic for no reason other than because she could. Taking a deep breath, and downing his last drink, he glanced towards the other two.
“Who's coming and who's hiding out?"
"I should probably show, I guess. I'm nominally in charge of the office and all."
"Why don't you guys do that, and I'll take care of the bill? Curious as I am, it'd probably be weird if I was there right off the bat, especially if we don't want to let on that you actually have normal shit like friends." Kas grimaced, reaching out and patting twice on the back. "Good luck out there."
Eryk actually forgot about that. He had friends and, as Kas put it, normal shit. He huffed lightly, though, and shook his head. “Thanks, and you'll meet her soon enough, I'm sure," Eryk replied as he stood from his spot. He bid Marna and Kas farewell before he left with Aidan. The walk to the docks was slow, but deliberately so. He wasn't in a rush to see her, nor hear her. The air strip wasn't too far from the docks, and when they arrived, he could already see the top of her annoying purple hair. Her expression was dark, and she seemed to be glaring at everyone who passed her by, however; when their eyes met, her expression changed into something more that looked like disgust.
That was fine by Eryk; she disgusted him, too.
He briefly glanced in Aidan's direction before turning his attention back towards Katia. He didn't say anything to her. He had nothing to say, after all.
“Klein, what are you doing here?" she asked, slightly confused. “It's supposed to be just him; Gregorovich hasn't given us anything specific," she added, tossing her head in Eryk's direction. It jostled her ponytail, but other than that, she looked like she always did. Dressed in a white tank top with a purple one over it, she placed a hand on her hip as she shifted the bag at her back. She handed it towards Eryk, though, and he gave her a flat stare.
“I'm not your fucking bell boy. Don't hand me your shit," he said as he narrowed his eyes. She narrowed her own at him.
Aidan shrugged, acting entirely like his usual self. "I'm technically in charge of the field office. Apparently that means doing shit like this; it's happened before." He didn't give any particular indication how he felt about it. He did, however, extend a hand as if to offer to carry the same suitcase Eryk had refused.
"You got a place you're set up or what?"
“I did," she replied dryly, glancing in Aidan's direction with narrowed eyes. It took her a moment longer before she handed the bag to Aidan, and huffed lightly. “But the place I was set up at decided they didn't have any open rooms so I'll be staying wherever Nero is staying," she stated in a nonchalant fashion. There was something in her eyes, a dangerous glint that was covered by a smile, however; Eryk knew it for what it wasn't.
“No. You're not staying with me. Go see if the Delaney has any open rooms for you to rent from," he shot back, earning an arched brow from her.
“Oh? Is there a reason you don't want me staying, Ryk? Niav not being a good girl and putting out like she's supposed to?" she asked. Eryk bit his tongue. He wanted to tell her to fuck off, but that wouldn't work for her. She'd merely roll with it and turn it into something else.
“I'm on a mission for Gregorovich. You'll be informed about it, later, not in a public place like this," he merely stated. It seemed to satisfy her for the moment, however; she made a soft tsking sound.
“What about you, Aidan? You've any room to spare?" she sounded almost hopeful that he would. Eryk inwardly winced. She was going to be a pain for the next few weeks, wasn't she?
Aidan sighed, flicking ash from the end of his cigarette. "Yeah, fine. You can stay at mine. I wasn't planning on this though, so you'll have to give me a few hours to change out the sheets and whatever." He shot a brief glance at Eryk. There was little change in his expression, but nevertheless it was pretty obvious why he was agreeing to this—it would stop Katia from insisting on anything less convenient, including staying with Cyrilla and Kas or anything like that.
"We gonna get moving? There's a car waiting in the lot. We can talk shop there."
I owe you one, Eryk spoke directly to Aidan with the use of his telepathy. He didn't want Katia to hear him, after all, and he would owe Aidan. It was still strange to Eryk, connecting to someone's mind like that, even if for a brief moment. He'd have to practice it at a later time with someone just so it wouldn't feel like he'd run straight into a wall, head first. It was different with pokemon, though.
Katia, however, beamed happily at Aidan when he'd agreed to let her stay. “See, why can't you be more accommodating like Klein?" she asked, furrowing her brows at Eryk as they made their way towards the car.
“Because I'm not Klein."
“Clearly," she responded, rolling her eyes. When they approached the car, they shuffled in with Katia in the middle. “So... let's talk shop. What's Gregorovich having them do?" she asked once she made herself comfortable.
Stubbing his cigarette out on the ashtray in the car, Aidan expelled the last of the smoke out the window and leaned back, crossing his arms. "Infiltration, of sorts," he said. "Two at once. The long term one's for Project Nebula, so I don't have to tell you how much boss has riding on it. That's the one he's changed locations for—he's living with a mark. The other's a foray into pro-battling. Dunno what details you're cleared for, so I'll have to stop explaining there, but... you get the idea, I'm sure."
Katia looked like she wanted to sneer at what Aidan had said, but she seemed to settle on pursed lips. “Fine. I get the idea," she replied as she rolled her eyes. “Just so you know, I'll be checking in with Niav, too. There have been some unsettling things being said and her parents want me to check in with her while I'm here," she stated, grinning slightly.
“This is a mission that all three of us are doing. Don't do anything stupid, Katia, or it's not Gregorovich you'll be worried about," he let the threat hang in the air as she furrowed her brows at him.
“I'm not a complete monster, Ryk. I'm merely going to get her side of the story, is all. Jeez, I swear you jump to conclusions too quickly."
“How long are you going to be here?" he asked, watching as she smiled slyly at him.
“Why? Miss me already?"
“No. I want to celebrate when you go." Katia made a face at him but rolled her eyes.
“The first week of November, asshole."
Aidan looked like he'd rather be anywhere else, but only for a moment before his features smoothed out again. His chest rose and fell with a deep sigh, but it was entirely silent. He fixed his eyes out the window and pretended to ignore the insults being traded back and forth, at least until they reached the Cloyster.
"All right, this is our stop. You headed back to hers, Nero, or getting out?"
Eryk really didn't want to leave Aidan alone with Katia, however; he had promised Anastasia that he would help her with some of the duties before the day was out. Sighing deeply, he shook his head.
“I'm headed back. There are a few things I need to take care of," he answered, pursing his lips in Aidan's direction. Katia didn't seem too inclined to say anything about his response, thankfully. She merely rolled her eyes and leaned a little towards Aidan's direction.
“Guess that means you'll be showing me around the apartment," she said simply, though Eryk felt a little sick to his stomach at the way she said it. There were certain implications there that he was almost certain she meant. He really did owe Aidan. Badly for this.
But Aidan's expression didn't change. He only nodded, as disaffected and detached as he'd ever been, and pulled Katia's bag from the trunk. "Sure. We're this way."
He'd invited them along mostly because he didn't want to be alone when Katia showed up. Aidan had previous experience in dealing with her, but Kas was new to the whole thing. He felt a little bad for bringing Kas into it, but he'd wanted to be, apparently. Pushing a sigh through his nose, he shook his head faintly.
“Are you ready?" he asked, though he wasn't sure why. He sort of already knew the answer to it.
"No," Aidan replied in a grumble. He was drinking much more slowly than Eryk, but had also already made his way through two cigarettes and was starting in on a third. "No one's ever ready to deal with Katia. And if you think you are, that just means you're even more not than those of us who know better."
"Yikes," Kas replied, sipping from his beer. He was pretty relaxed, to all appearances, but then he was the one who had no idea what they were in for. "Also, not to like... make it worse or anything, but do we have a plan for what to do if she wants to like... visit the shelter or something? I can't imagine letting her talk to Ana is anyone's idea of a good time."
“First off," Eryk began, narrowing his eyes a bit in Kas's direction, “she has no business at Ana's shelter. This is our mission; she's not allowed to interfere with it unless she gets permission from Gregorovich." Eryk doubted Gregorovich would consent because this was time-sensitive, and Katia was not exactly the type of person you sent in for missions that required something of a delicate approach.
“Secondly, you're not wrong," he added, turning in Aidan's direction. “No one is ever ready to deal with her shit. She'll be here in the next hour or so; I suggest we figure out the best course of action to take so that she doesn't fuck anything up." All of his hard work would be for naught if she somehow let something slip. And if it messed with either him or Cyrilla, Eryk knew she would do it on purpose.
"Rheinallt has a fair point, though," Aidan murmured around the cigarette. "She could easily just introduce herself as your relative. And if you told Ana she was visiting, it might be stranger for her not to stop by the place you're living. Or at least I could see her using that as an excuse. If we want to head her off before she gets the chance to do anything like that..." he hummed.
"Why not, uh... volunteer the info?" Kas shrugged when Aidan looked at him curiously. "You, as her former teammate, do her a 'solid' and brief her on Ryk's current missions and stuff. Make it clear that he's doing important shit for Gregorovich that she can't mess with in the process. She gets the impression you're at least kinda willing to play ball with her plans, she learns not to go for that angle, awkward collision avoided."
Eryk arched a brow at the suggestion. It might help in that sense if Katia knew what he was doing. It would give her a reason to back off for now, and wouldn't necessarily jeopardize whatever they had going on. If Aidan fed Katia the information, it would get her off of his and Ana's back. That was the most important thing, right now. He blinked a bit when he realized which direction his thoughts had taken. Ana and this mission were the most important things right now. It was the mission that was important.
“You said you would take one for the team, might as well make it this. And..." Eryk paused as he narrowed his eyes somewhat, “she might just tell you things that will help us in the long run, too. She's more willing to listen to you than to anyone else who isn't Gregorovich or part of the family." Katia never shut up about things like that, and part of Ryk wondered if Katia had something for the man. He huffed lightly at the thought.
“Just be careful or she'll decide you're her next target."
"Not funny, Nero," Aidan replied, though the irregularity in the smoke cloud he exhaled somehow suggested inaudible laughter. "But sure. I'll make sure she knows, I guess." He picked up his low tumbler of whiskey and took a sip, setting it back down on the table with a soft thud.
"She coming in by boat, or taking a charter plane in?" he asked suddenly, but a moment later, the reason became clear. A small aircraft droned in the distance, audible even over the wind. They weren't especially common on the island—boat transport was the standard, though there was a small local airport on the backisland where planes could be chartered in and out.
Eryk groaned lightly, and downed his sixth or eighth shot of vodka. He couldn't really remember what number he was on. “She's coming by plane; something about it taking too long on a boat," he answered. “She's a little early if that's her plane, but it wouldn't be the first time she's lied about the time she'd be somewhere."
Really, Eryk should have known better. Katia was always early to the places she'd say she was going to. If she said an hour, it'd likely be anywhere from fifteen to twenty minutes. She just liked to make people panic for no reason other than because she could. Taking a deep breath, and downing his last drink, he glanced towards the other two.
“Who's coming and who's hiding out?"
"I should probably show, I guess. I'm nominally in charge of the office and all."
"Why don't you guys do that, and I'll take care of the bill? Curious as I am, it'd probably be weird if I was there right off the bat, especially if we don't want to let on that you actually have normal shit like friends." Kas grimaced, reaching out and patting twice on the back. "Good luck out there."
Eryk actually forgot about that. He had friends and, as Kas put it, normal shit. He huffed lightly, though, and shook his head. “Thanks, and you'll meet her soon enough, I'm sure," Eryk replied as he stood from his spot. He bid Marna and Kas farewell before he left with Aidan. The walk to the docks was slow, but deliberately so. He wasn't in a rush to see her, nor hear her. The air strip wasn't too far from the docks, and when they arrived, he could already see the top of her annoying purple hair. Her expression was dark, and she seemed to be glaring at everyone who passed her by, however; when their eyes met, her expression changed into something more that looked like disgust.
That was fine by Eryk; she disgusted him, too.
He briefly glanced in Aidan's direction before turning his attention back towards Katia. He didn't say anything to her. He had nothing to say, after all.
“Klein, what are you doing here?" she asked, slightly confused. “It's supposed to be just him; Gregorovich hasn't given us anything specific," she added, tossing her head in Eryk's direction. It jostled her ponytail, but other than that, she looked like she always did. Dressed in a white tank top with a purple one over it, she placed a hand on her hip as she shifted the bag at her back. She handed it towards Eryk, though, and he gave her a flat stare.
“I'm not your fucking bell boy. Don't hand me your shit," he said as he narrowed his eyes. She narrowed her own at him.
Aidan shrugged, acting entirely like his usual self. "I'm technically in charge of the field office. Apparently that means doing shit like this; it's happened before." He didn't give any particular indication how he felt about it. He did, however, extend a hand as if to offer to carry the same suitcase Eryk had refused.
"You got a place you're set up or what?"
“I did," she replied dryly, glancing in Aidan's direction with narrowed eyes. It took her a moment longer before she handed the bag to Aidan, and huffed lightly. “But the place I was set up at decided they didn't have any open rooms so I'll be staying wherever Nero is staying," she stated in a nonchalant fashion. There was something in her eyes, a dangerous glint that was covered by a smile, however; Eryk knew it for what it wasn't.
“No. You're not staying with me. Go see if the Delaney has any open rooms for you to rent from," he shot back, earning an arched brow from her.
“Oh? Is there a reason you don't want me staying, Ryk? Niav not being a good girl and putting out like she's supposed to?" she asked. Eryk bit his tongue. He wanted to tell her to fuck off, but that wouldn't work for her. She'd merely roll with it and turn it into something else.
“I'm on a mission for Gregorovich. You'll be informed about it, later, not in a public place like this," he merely stated. It seemed to satisfy her for the moment, however; she made a soft tsking sound.
“What about you, Aidan? You've any room to spare?" she sounded almost hopeful that he would. Eryk inwardly winced. She was going to be a pain for the next few weeks, wasn't she?
Aidan sighed, flicking ash from the end of his cigarette. "Yeah, fine. You can stay at mine. I wasn't planning on this though, so you'll have to give me a few hours to change out the sheets and whatever." He shot a brief glance at Eryk. There was little change in his expression, but nevertheless it was pretty obvious why he was agreeing to this—it would stop Katia from insisting on anything less convenient, including staying with Cyrilla and Kas or anything like that.
"We gonna get moving? There's a car waiting in the lot. We can talk shop there."
I owe you one, Eryk spoke directly to Aidan with the use of his telepathy. He didn't want Katia to hear him, after all, and he would owe Aidan. It was still strange to Eryk, connecting to someone's mind like that, even if for a brief moment. He'd have to practice it at a later time with someone just so it wouldn't feel like he'd run straight into a wall, head first. It was different with pokemon, though.
Katia, however, beamed happily at Aidan when he'd agreed to let her stay. “See, why can't you be more accommodating like Klein?" she asked, furrowing her brows at Eryk as they made their way towards the car.
“Because I'm not Klein."
“Clearly," she responded, rolling her eyes. When they approached the car, they shuffled in with Katia in the middle. “So... let's talk shop. What's Gregorovich having them do?" she asked once she made herself comfortable.
Stubbing his cigarette out on the ashtray in the car, Aidan expelled the last of the smoke out the window and leaned back, crossing his arms. "Infiltration, of sorts," he said. "Two at once. The long term one's for Project Nebula, so I don't have to tell you how much boss has riding on it. That's the one he's changed locations for—he's living with a mark. The other's a foray into pro-battling. Dunno what details you're cleared for, so I'll have to stop explaining there, but... you get the idea, I'm sure."
Katia looked like she wanted to sneer at what Aidan had said, but she seemed to settle on pursed lips. “Fine. I get the idea," she replied as she rolled her eyes. “Just so you know, I'll be checking in with Niav, too. There have been some unsettling things being said and her parents want me to check in with her while I'm here," she stated, grinning slightly.
“This is a mission that all three of us are doing. Don't do anything stupid, Katia, or it's not Gregorovich you'll be worried about," he let the threat hang in the air as she furrowed her brows at him.
“I'm not a complete monster, Ryk. I'm merely going to get her side of the story, is all. Jeez, I swear you jump to conclusions too quickly."
“How long are you going to be here?" he asked, watching as she smiled slyly at him.
“Why? Miss me already?"
“No. I want to celebrate when you go." Katia made a face at him but rolled her eyes.
“The first week of November, asshole."
Aidan looked like he'd rather be anywhere else, but only for a moment before his features smoothed out again. His chest rose and fell with a deep sigh, but it was entirely silent. He fixed his eyes out the window and pretended to ignore the insults being traded back and forth, at least until they reached the Cloyster.
"All right, this is our stop. You headed back to hers, Nero, or getting out?"
Eryk really didn't want to leave Aidan alone with Katia, however; he had promised Anastasia that he would help her with some of the duties before the day was out. Sighing deeply, he shook his head.
“I'm headed back. There are a few things I need to take care of," he answered, pursing his lips in Aidan's direction. Katia didn't seem too inclined to say anything about his response, thankfully. She merely rolled her eyes and leaned a little towards Aidan's direction.
“Guess that means you'll be showing me around the apartment," she said simply, though Eryk felt a little sick to his stomach at the way she said it. There were certain implications there that he was almost certain she meant. He really did owe Aidan. Badly for this.
But Aidan's expression didn't change. He only nodded, as disaffected and detached as he'd ever been, and pulled Katia's bag from the trunk. "Sure. We're this way."