Supernova

Chapter Twenty Six - A Hand Forged Friendship

I was enjoying Deathmatch, recalibration, and the long hot showers that came after so much, that I was disappointed when it eventually came time to go on tour. But, alas, it did come. I was a little tense with the thought that I'd be rusty, not having been on tour for over three months, but Demon and Needles didn't seem too worried about it. Elias didn't either, because of course he didn't.

I hadn't been into the mission selection section of the school since my tour on the very first day. As we entered, the area was semi crowded of other pairs and teams, who instantly became quiet when we rounded the corner. After a few seconds of silence, the whispers started, none of which I bothered tuning in to. Everyone moved aside, pressing themselves against the walls and out of the way, looks of uncertainty and fear on nearly every face my eyes found, allowing us passage as we made our way through. Interestingly enough, I was not at all the source. Everyone was looking at Elias. Even more interesting, is that I didn't mind. In fact, it made me like him even more.

I hadn't spent any significant time looking at the clipboards during my tour, so I followed Demon's lead, peering at them from where I sat on his tall red shoulders. They were sorted by number of teammates, so we wandered over to the section for four. I waved the smoke out of my face, trying to see what the colour coded ribbons and large letter stamps meant. In America, all our tours had been laid out for us. We seldom knew where we were going and for what purpose until we got there. It was a brand-new experience to be able to choose what we did.

"I'm feeling generous, this being your first time and all," Demon told me, shooing Needles and Elias off with a flick of the wrist. "So why don't you pick us out something fun, Princess?"

"Fun?" I asked him, the word falling out of my mouth. I looked behind me at Needles and Elias, who were loitering a few feet behind us, not bothering to read any of the clipboards. Neither of their blank expressions gave me any hints as to what that might mean either.

"The colours indicate location," Demon told me as he placed me on the ground in front of the clipboards, already predicting my confusion. "Don't bother with it. Doesn't fucking matter. Look for the R stamp."

"What does the R mean?" I asked him.

"Retrieval," Demon answered, on the back of an annoyed sigh. "The only missions worth doing."

"Retrieval?" I repeated, turning back to the clipboards. "What do we retrieve?"

"Depends." Demon shrugged and lifted one of the clipboards to his face. "This one's some rich old bag who claims her neighbor stole her dog. Or hey, we also have some businessman whose ex-business partner made off with a few hard drives of company secrets."

"What?" My voice was thick with disbelief, reaching for the clipboard he'd just placed back down. I had to be mindful not to crush it in my grasp as I read it over. It really was just some lady who wanted her dog back. The information included pictures of the dog, the neighbor's house, security camera snapshots of some hooded figure with the dog under their arm, and quirk information of both the lady and her neighbor. "That's it?"

"Yes, Princess Amerislaughter," Demon said, his voice drawn out and sarcastic. "That's it."

I let the realization of that wash over me. No wonder the death rate was so low. I read the clipboards for what felt like a long time. So long, in fact, that Demon left my side and plopped himself down next to Needles and pulled him into his lap. I flipped through the pages of each of them, looking over the information, enjoying the innocence and juvenile nature of it. The image of Melanie suddenly entered my mind, and as I kept my back to my teammates, I blinked until my vision became clear again. I hadn't thought of her in so long, but suddenly, I wished she was here, that I could talk to her, tell her about this place. And more than that, I hoped I never had to leave. I found a clipboard that interested me and tucked it under my arm before walking up to Elias and pressing my mouth into his with such force that he fell back the foot or so into the wall behind him.