Lunar Awakening-Chapter 55: Cold Tension

For the rest of the ride Leo was more quiet than usual, Gerald dropped him off right before his house. After waving him goodbye, the very first person to come out to greet him was none other than Trish. She looked both afraid that he had not spent the night with her and also angry that he did not come back with the ice cream he had promised.

To make up for it he handed her the gift Kevin had set aside for her, which turned out to be a smartphone. The design was crisp but not too sophisticated, afterwards he filled his father in on the things he had discussed with Kevin about getting a lawyer-- he made sure to leave out the details about their fight and anything about his abilities of course.

He also made sure his father would have the remote Kevin had given him since it would mostly be useless to him since he was a superhuman, besides he would not be spending much time on Earth anyway.

With all that settled Leo could finally address the main problem of the day, Hinata had killed two awakened singlehandedly.

He had only two questions, the first was how she had managed to kill two awakened all by her lonesome. And the second was how she had found the bunker, did she follow them there the first day, how much of their operation was compromised.

Leo picked up his phone and dialed a number he never really expected to call in a long time, it rang for the first time with no answer. He dialed it a second time, this time it seemed longer like the call itself was testing his patience.

On the last second a voice spoke on the other end. "I told you I’ll pay the damn debt, quit bugging me dammit."

Leo gripped his phone tighter and talked back, "Roxy, did you get the call from Mr Neuman’s bodyguard?"

He could hear a gasp from the other end, then the sound of someone rummaging through something. "Shit, fuck. It’s you, yes I got the call and why are you calling me?"

He could not tell if she was taking him seriously or pretending to. "Where are you right now." As he spoke he walked out of his house waving his sister and father goodbye as he caught a glance of Trish obsessing over her new phone.

On the other end Roxy chuckled in a lewd manner, "You naughty guy, do you really want to come see me that badly."

Leo froze in shock and disgust, "What, no! I want us to meet up before we head there, there’s something I have to ask you."

Not even a second passed before Roxy spoke in her usual warm enthusiastic self, "Whatever captain schmuck. Just buy me a cig pack."

Leo felt like screaming back at her and calling her crazy but he somehow managed to show a little bit of self control. After choosing a location, he took a cab to meet with her. The drive to the street a couple of blocks from the Tetrazzini club took only a few minutes, he was not surprised to find that he had arrived first.

He had always been prone to arriving on time, unfortunately for him his partner would take much longer before she would arrive. He had to wait half an hour till she appeared walking down the street, in the same clothes she wore the day before-- it left him to wonder if it was the very same one or if she perhaps had an extra. But that wasn’t important anyway.

"Could you come any later?" He asked, the anger slipping through his cool façade.

She smiled and said, "I could have used another half hour if you wanted."

Hearing this he almost flared up, "Are you saying you came late on purpose?"

She gave him a slow confident nod, "Yup, I live down the next street."

Leo grumbled a number of curses, it made his mouth taste bitter.

He noticed that her long blonde hair which was usually held in place by a pin looked very rough, almost like she did not have any time to make it. She gave off the same air as someone who had no care for the world but her eyes told different, well the one good eye not hidden behind a scarred face. The perfectly spherical cobalt blue eye darkened almost giving the sense that she was deadly serious. She seemed to have a confidence in her nonsense.

"Here, for your addiction." He dug his hand into his pocket and brought her what she had asked for. He could not believe that he had really gotten it for her, in his defense if they would really have to work together he wanted her in tip top shape.

To his surprise Roxy gave him an irritated look before saying in a sarcastic tone. "Don’t put it like I’m sick or something."

He glared at her in deep irritation, "Well, do you want it or not?"

She gave him a sly smile as she spoke, "Well, I don’t really have an addiction to these things. Just a liking, either way I thank you for your humble patronage."

Leo froze in shock as he watched her snatch the pack from his hand and tuck it away in her pocket. His right eye twitched as he stared at her in confusion, "Are you saying you lied?"

She laughed for a bit before saying, "How else do you expect a lady to get a free smoke?"

Leo could feel himself screaming internally, he turned and started to walk away angrily as she trailed behind him. He could not believe he had been swindled of his own money and turned into a messenger boy.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Roxy said in a voice bathed in an uncanny level of seriousness she had never possessed before, it was like he was standing next to a totally different person. It was enough to shake him from his quiet moment of rage.

He cleared his mind and waited for a second before finally speaking. "Two awakened died, it can only mean that she’s stronger than we thought. I know this might sound ridiculous but it would be crucial if we share a bit of information about each other, so we don’t end up-- dead."

He could tell she was giving him a funny look, a superhuman’s abilities were something kept secret and sacred-- to the smart one however. They only shared them with people they deemed to be trustworthy comrades, since the information could be used against them in future. In a world where the element of surprise provided by one’s ability could be the deciding factor between life and death, the story behind one’s ability would not be easily revealed.

What was more ridiculous was the fact that they had only just met the day before and he had been pushing her away despite her advances towards him. If he was in her shoes he would not expect her to do it.

"I would rather die than do such a foolish thing." Her voice sounded cold and grim, almost threatening.

They walked side by side, being bathed by the morning sun. Hover cars passing by them beeping and honking, Leo’s voice broke the silence between them. "Of course I would expect you to say no, to be honest I am more relaxed now that I’ve heard your answer. Since I am led to believe that the other awakened might try to kill us the moment the threat is neutralised."

"And you wouldn’t?" She asked coldly as she glanced at him.

Leo sighed heavily, "No, I wouldn’t. I don’t harm others."

"And I’m supposed to believe your words captain schmuck?" She said in a slightly relaxed tone.

He furrowed his brows, irritated by her words. "I want to know more about aura?"

She yawned loudly and without courtesy, "Why is that?" She noticed Leo keeping quiet, she sighed and said, "Listen you dweeb, I’m not the one who just brought about the prospect of working together now am I?"

Leo looked at her realising that she was saying the right thing, he drew in a deep breath and said. "I’m not really sure but allow me to ask this. Is it useful in battle?"

She paused a bit as the club was coming into view. "I don’t know since I haven’t seen it for sure but I hear it’s mighty useful. You don’t perhaps happen to have a lighter with you, schmuck."

"No I do no--" he stopped himself short and flared up. "Who are you calling a schmuck?"

She chuckled happily, "You are a lot of things all together and I found you a name that does it all."

"You are a rotten person." He added.

She smiled slightly as she spoke, "We are all rotten people, you schmuck. That’s what makes it fun."

Leo looked at the entrance of the club just a few feet away and drew in another deep breath, his body jolted as he felt her hand land on his shoulder. It felt strange to have someone other than his sister touch him, the only other time he had been touched was when someone from Glory base beat him.

But this was different, it carried no malice or ill will, it was somewhat comforting.

Then came Roxy’s voice, soft and tender. "You scratch my back, I scratch your back captain schmuck."

Leo glared at her in irritation once more, "Drop the nickname will ya."

She chuckled again as she ruffled his hair, "Is my little troublemaker angry, look at how cute you look."

A vein popped at the corner of his temple, ’I swear I’ll kill this woman."