>>25275485The “Academics” were also chatting the day away nearby, they hadn’t noticed him yet. “Wait, did you have weapons?” Professor Marsh exclaimed, flabbergasted by something. Agent Suiko, one of Lucia’s fellow agents, answered. “Professor, we’re always armed, that’s our job. It’s nothing personal, everyone getting wasted in a closed room is a rather vulnerable position to be in. Foul play, or a successful ambush could spell doom for the expedition.” Puffison put his hand on his chin, still a bit unsure. “Well, that is true. So one agent went with each leader once we split off?” Lucia seemed amused by something. “That’s right, though Cassandra had little to do, Gaia is a fine bodyguard herself. Saimei took care of the second Magnus brother. Suiko was assigned to the four-eyes here;” Lucia’s thumb points toward a bespectacled Akira, “once we left the hotel I was off the clock. I stuck around though, I had a feeling your group would be more of a handful.”
The banter makes Akira roll her eyes before noticing the doctor. A cloud passes over her eyes before she composes herself. “Doctor Niwa, how are you feeling?” Lucia seems worried about something. That’s a new one, from her at least. Kotio grins through the pain. “I’m well, just a bit of drinking, nothing I haven’t dealt with before. I wanted to thank the person who helped me to the ship after I fell asleep.” Akira and Puffison look at each other awkwardly, while Suiko guffaws. Between laughs, Suiko explains: “Good Doctor, are you sure you’re not looking for whoever put you to sleep?” This doesn’t explain anything.
Akira explains better: “Doctor, you have a black eye.” He touches his right eye and realizes a fraction of the painful throbbing is physical instead of chemical. “Mori help me, how the hell did that happen?” The quiet hangs in the air. Suika speaks up again. “Looks like Akira is silenced by your seniority, Marsh by his unfamiliarity, and Lucia by her guilt. I’ll give you the recap.”
Suika seems to enjoy the sound of her own voice tremendously as she recounts the tale. “We had just moved into a new bar, nice second floor place. Oh, that’s where they had that fried chicken! Delicious, it’s like it’s encrusted in honey. Anyway, you were *gone*. You’re a fun drunk! Well, until you started getting handsy with the cutest Lunaito archivist.” Akira palms her forehead and sighs. “She’s a part of the expedition, too…” Suiko continues. “She tried every trick under the sun, changed seats, told you about her boyfriend, pretended to see her colleague over there, but you just didn’t take the hint. Finally, while you were getting increasingly physical, our selfless friend Lucia here kindly asked you to take it.” Kotio hated all of this. He hated Suiko’s delight quite a lot, but he felt he wasn’t gonna enjoy what was coming next either. “And then?” Suiko smirks at Lucia, who mutters something before laying it out, grim. “You responded poorly. You shoved me, said some expletives, and I knocked you out.”
Ugh. At least she had the decency to feel guilty about it. Sir Puffison piped up. “Err, I’m the one who carried you back, with Suika’s help. Deadbeats don’t look like it, but you sure are heavy.” He lets out a nervous laugh. Finally, Kotio reacts. “I see. I hope there are no hard feelings, Lucia. It’s good that you… Made me see reason.”
The now familiar sound of Suiko’s laughter resounds once more. “Oh, no hard feelings, if anything she should be thankful! As it turns out, the sweetest thing to eat here isn’t the candy, it’s the Lunaito archivist pussy! Bahahaha” Lucia’s face is a mask of stone, but she’s blushing furiously, in so far as a Deadbeat’s deathly pallor can redden. Akira seems incredibly disappointed in everyone involved. The poor Lunaito professor seems to wish he was literally anywhere else on all of Vitubia.
Kotio truly is too old for this shit. At least he had the excuse of getting drunk out of his mind before acting like a lecherous fool. He is this close to swearing off the drink, until the temperature hits twenty under zero, at the least.
This is gonna be a long boat ride. Here’s hoping Chunora is a bit more relaxing…
2/2
>>25187933Am I still worldbuilding? Am I writing a soap drama now? This went places without asking me.
Still enjoying having Deadbeats get along with everyone except other Deadbeats kek. 