\nQ got home rather late. The castle Edmond had moved into was far away from everything else, making the walk to and from civilization a long one.
\nEdmond had fallen asleep on the couch, presumably staying up to try and talk to Q upon his return. Q simply went to his own room. He was awoken at approximately 10AM the next day from the Monte Criston staring at him. The feeling had been awkward enough to rouse the Talvian out of his slumber.<\/p>\n
Edmond didn’t let Q blink twice or grab his sunglasses before he looked straight into the dog-man’s eyes and asked, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What do you know about the Phoenix?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The Monte Criston was dressed lavishly as always, however his glare was particularly intimidating. His arms were crossed over his chest as he leaned against the doorframe that led to Q’s room, awaiting the answer to his question.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Her name is Tali Heartlie,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Q began. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153She lived with someone named Fortenra Askasa. She’s been wreaking havoc across town for the last few days, because she just discovered she can revive herself. Tali’s family, previously known as the Phoenix Mafia, were killed recently by a group of kids who now call themselves the Phoenix Gang. They worship Tali. I only know two of the members’ names- Buzz and Ismaru.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Q groaned, finally sitting up and putting his left hand over his eyes. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why did you do that when you know about the sun…?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he whined, blindly reaching around his nightstand for his sunglasses. Edmond walked over and handed them to his disciple with a grunt.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You’ve been particularly dodgy lately,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he replied.<\/p>\n
Q and Edmond had moved into the castle about two and a half weeks a go. Edmond expected this Phoenix business to be over and done with rather quickly, yet in this time had made absolutely no progress. Edmond was sick of waiting around while Q disappeared for days at a time with some \u00e2\u20ac\u0153scouting\u00e2\u20ac\u009d excuse. Edmond wasn’t stupid. Q was still a child even at twenty five. How did he get himself into this?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was out getting information for you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Q whined again, after putting on his sunglasses and looking to Edmond.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I hate how you can lie to me like that with a straight face,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Edmond scowled.
\nQ frowned. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So I can multi-task,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he replied sardonically as he threw up his hands in defeat. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What else is new?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Edmond grabbed Q’s left hand, having seen something wrong with it. There was a huge gash, like some sort of rope burn.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What is this?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Edmond questioned, leaning in closer.
\nQ pulled his hand away from Edmond’s grip forcefully, pushing himself off the bed to stand up to Edmond. Q was still in his red and black attire, having slept in his clothes.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It’s nothing,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Q replied, going on the defensive. He began to walk to his closet, to get a change of clothes.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nothing?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Edmond slammed his hand to the wall, blocking Q’s path. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Where have you been every night? Why are you avoiding me? What happened<\/em> to you?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Q looked away and began to walk around Edmond, his lips tight. Edmond slammed Q into the wall, getting into his disciple’s face. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Answer me!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n There was a silence as Q looked down, his grey hair covering his glasses. Edmond took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You’re right,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he finally said, letting go of Q and backing away a few steps in realization. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I apologize.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Q loosened up, and after a moment of trying to judge what Edmond was thinking, gave up and continued to his closet to change into some clean clothes. He came out with jeans, a t-shirt, and a jean jacket. Edmond quirked a brow.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was going to go into town today,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Q said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Since you woke me up so early.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Edmond sighed. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I can’t get the television to work,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said after a long pause. <\/p>\n Q turned to go out the door, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dexterity doesn’t have TV as far as I can tell,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But I’m pretty sure you can get internet access. I’ve seen a few computers around.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153All right,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Edmond responded, going to his own room in defeat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"series":[30],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=504"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":570,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504\/revisions\/570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=504"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What happened to you<\/em>, Edmond,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he whispered. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You used to trust me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n