Vices and Maces

Chapter 21: Can You Call Them Love Birds if Only One Has Wings?

CW: wrapped up injuries/burns (nothing in detail), sexual innuendos

"Petals told you to be careful!" Kayden scolded, throwing away the trash from the bandages. "They're fire crystals, Anemone."

Cecil pouted, staring at his bandaged fingers. "I didn't mean to drop it..."

"So you tried to catch a fire crystal?"

"I did it on instinct! Besides, it would have fallen into my lap!"

"You almost gave yourself a concussion when you kicked your chair back after you dropped the crystal again! Your head almost hit the ground when your chair tipped back! It gave me a heart attack!"

"I'll be fine, I'll just focus my research on the gun. I promise I won't touch those bullets until my fingers are healed."

"I'd rather you not touch them ever again." Kayden frowned, folding his arms.

"Aw, were you worried about me?"

"Duh! I was just coding some bot and I heard you shout in pain! Ugh, and when Sidney isn't here!"

"Your dad did encourage her to go to college, so now she has to take classes. She only has three classes a week though, it's just a small community college. My parents want me to go to college too."

"Yeah but you'll be working here! You don't need to go to college!"

Cecil shrugged. "They want me to have a back up plan, and they don't even know that this is a gang. Nothing's been decided yet though, I don't think I want to go. What about you?"

"You know I don't mix well with school, that's why I dropped out."

"Yeah, I remember. Thorns pulled you out for your mental health, then helped you get a GED when he saw how much happier you were out of school. He's a cool dad."

"I guess, but he's not as strict with himself as he is with me." Kayden sighed, "Let's take a break for now, okay? No more studying that weird gun, let's just go outside."

Cecil held his hands out. Kayden rolled his eyes but grabbed them, pulling him up. He held his hand as he pulled him out of the room, looking around the halls before sneaking down them.

They ran up the stairs that led to the roof. Kayden pushed the door open and turned to Cecil, spreading his wings out.

"Do you think you'll be able to keep up with me?"

Cecil smiled and the wind around them picked up. "I just might. But if I fall, do you promise you'll catch me?"

Kayden let go of his hand. "We'll see." He turned and rushed to the edge of the building, jumping off of the edge. Cecil raced after him but before he caught up, Kayden flew up into the air faster than Cecil could see.

He hesitated before jumping off as well. He didn't have wings, but as an air genie the wind was his friend. The air twisted around him, his hair flowing in all directions as he went after the other.

Kayden smiled as Cecil caught up with him. It was nice to be out in the air, the wind flying through their hair and feathers compared to the stuffy room they work in. Kayden took Cecil's hands, pulling him closer.

Cecil's face turned red as he laughed nervously, looking away. The wind blew the two apart, making Kayden laugh. He flew off and waved Cecil over, who smiled wider and chased after him.

While they were flying around, neither of them noticed Remus walking up to the building and looking up at them. He smiled and shook his head with a small laugh. The halfling was holding a suitcase in one hand.

Oh he's definitely going to tease Kayden about this later. But first he needs to get to the office.

He pushed the door open and walked in. The further he walked in the hall, the more worry weighed down on him. Remus's grip on the suitcase tightened, metal digging into his skin.

He finally reached Roman's office and for once, walked in like a normal person. The orc's mind was too busy thinking to sneak in through Romans window or vent, or kick down the door, or enter the room in some other weird way.

Roman looked up from some papers and frowned when he saw Remus. Even more so when Remus dropped the suitcase he was carrying on a chair.

"What's that?" he asked.

"You know those three guys that you caught from Wolfsbane? The ones we were holding hostage for ransom? Well Wolfsbane paid."

Roman's eyes widened. "They paid? They've never paid before!"

"Yup." Remus crossed his arms. "I don't like it. They paid at the last minute too. Maybe the three you caught were important?"

"I don't see how, we interrogated them as much as we could. They didn't seem to know anything Black was planning." Roman leaned back in his seat, putting a hand on his chin. "Unless they were somehow good actors."

"Those three? Yeah, sure. Do you think they were caught on purpose? To plant a bug?"

"There wasn't anything on my suit, and we took them to the warehouse. I'll have it searched, but I doubt we'll find anything."

Remus sighed, "Something tells me we should have just killed them. They saw you!"

"And they know I'm one of the leaders."

"Ro- Petals, what if this gets out to the police? You won't be able to go anywhere in public without the police trying to arrest you!"

"The police I can handle, I'm more worried about Wolfsbane." Roman thought back to the shapeshifter and the weredragon. The shapeshifter was a fighter, and would be a challenge. Not impossible to deal with, last time he was just caught off guard. But if there were more like them...

"What are we going to do about it? Hunt them down and kill them?"

"No, they paid. Was the money checked for counterfeit?"

Remus nodded. "It's all there."

"Then we leave them be. We'll keep our word. Part of this war is proving we're better than Wolfsbane, better than Black. We might not like it, but it needs to be done."

"If we fight dirty then we'd have won by now."

"We'll be fine, maybe we'll try to destroy their weapons factory again. You and I have been through worse than that man can imagine. As long as we have each other, both of us have always come out on top."

"I prefer to be on the bottom." Remus shrugged, his smile creeping back.

"I did not need to know that."

"But now you do."

Roman sighed, "What am I going to do with you?"

"Ew, nothing, we're brothers."

"Thorns!"