Prompted Story Snippets

Meetings in Underground Oases (VoLCPwHoA universe)

Jazz music echoed through a secluded bar on the outskirts of one of the oases. Many of the patrons meeting there would've had trouble getting served anywhere else, but this bar was lenient so long as you didn't cause trouble.

One particularly well-dressed woman descended the stairs, her avian ancestry most evident in her wide brown wings that marked her as some kind of owl-blood. Her bright yellow eyes surveyed the room for a long moment before settling on a table with a lone scorpion-blood and two glasses.

Walking over, Kye placed a careful hand on the table, tapping out a specific rhythm before sitting down. The man passed her the glass of soju, and immediately started drinking his baijiu.

"Rough week, old friend?"

"Kye, you're my family and I love you, but I'm not really in the mood for this today," Zhihao sighed, rubbing his forehead with one gloved hand while sipping from his glass with the other.

"The patriarchs fighting again?" She winced, hearing the jazz fade into an accompaniment for a tenor saxophone solo. She'd have to get them a tip later.

"You... have no idea..." He groaned, "Left and right, they just won't stop bickering! If they could get everything together then this partnership might actually work out but until then I'm condemned to listening to them all day."

Kye reached over and clasped his shoulder firmly, avoiding the sensitive chinks in his pseudo-exoskeleton. The scorpion-blood just groaned, rifling around in one of his pockets to find something.

"So what do you actually call me here for?" The owl-blood sipped her glass of soju with an almost amused look drifting over her face. "As much as I'd love to catch up and all, we're busy. Hit me with it."

Zhihao swallowed a large gulp of his baijiu before sliding a paper across the table. He reflexively adjusted one of his gloves, just to make sure that they were on right.

"We're leaving paper trails now?" Kye plucked the paper off of the table, running one polished talon down the list. "I can get most of these done fairly easily, but this one..." She pointed to a bullet point around halfway down, "It might just take a while." Zhihao waved a hand, shrugging slightly.

"Time is not going to be an issue for a while. So long as things are completed before your deadline, they should have no issue with it. Or how you get it done." Kye raised an eyebrow, tucking the paper away in one of her dress pockets.

"You know how I operate, Zhihao. I'll send over transmissions if anything goes awry." He nodded, staring off into space. "Alright, what's going on?"

"Huh?"

"You're staring out like a pining fool," Kye whispered affectionately, almost like it was a secret. Zhihao flushed furiously, his shoulders coming up to cover his red ears as he hunched over in his seat. Kye's jaw dropped.

"Dear heavens, good sir. We were just talking about murder contracts a minute ago, and now you're flustered?" The scorpion-blood looked like he wanted to strangle his distant cousin.

"Not. So. Loud." Zhihao bit out from behind gritted teeth. Kye only smiled and flicked her hand dismissively.

"Zhihao, nobody here cares. Practically everyone in this bar is in some variant of the same business as us."

"That does not make it better."

"True, but we don't have to worry about censoring ourselves." Kye opened her mouth like she was going to say more, but the owl-blood was interrupted when the door to the bar was knocked down the stairs.

Shouting filled the room, music instantly stopping and many annoyed growls rippling over the space. It was unanimously agreed.

Everyone for themselves.

Zhihao instantly charged the men entering down the stairs, yanking off his gloves to jab his oddly-shaped nails into their necks. They dropped in seconds, the scorpion-blood's venom attacking their nerves with an unnatural speed.

Kye wasn't far behind, slashing her talons across their throats, eyes, and anywhere else that was convenient. She managed to make it out of the door, slipping on an extra pair of bracers for her forearms as she did so.

Dodging another soldier's attacks, she hit them across the neck before reaching out her arms to Zhihao, who had just exited the building. He wrapped his hands around the bracers, making sure that there was no possibility that he could accidentally make Kye fall out of the air.

The two took to the skies, flying low over buildings and retreating back to the underground once they'd reached one of the further entrances. They then separated, Kye heading off to wipe out the list and Zhihao to try and mediate the arguing of their family's two rival patriarchs.

Just another average Thursday.