Mission: NYX || ONC2023 Shortlister

Chapter 14: Special Connections Division

 Lucinda stretched her arms as a sigh of relief left her lips. Today felt like a long day, and she wanted to do nothing but sleep in her room until noon tomorrow. Fortunately, it was both her and Greyson's day off tomorrow. Which meant she could sleep until twelve PM, and nothing was stopping her from eating breakfast in one in the afternoon.

The large windows behind her coated the entire office in a soft orange and yellow hue. It made the blue walls of the office look brighter and warmer. It was always a refreshing sight to see, especially after spending more than eight hours staring at the same walls today.

She hummed as she continued cleaning her table. Tablet in the bag, books lined up together—she furrowed her brows as she stacked four cups of hot chocolate together and tossed them in her bin. Did she really drink four cups of hot chocolate today? Or were some of these days old? No, some of these could be from Greyson.

Speaking of which... she turned to her left. Greyson was still cleaning his own desk. He muttered a song under his breath, though the lyrics sounded nothing like the actual song and instead must have been his misheard lyrics. It made her giggle, and she patted his head once she reached him. He stopped in his tracks, ears flipping up and down as he showed her a smile.

"So," she said as she knelt down to his height. "Did you enjoy today?"

His eyes darkened as his ears flopped down. "Today was boring."

"Well, you can blame Viktor for that." She grabbed his backpack from his chair and helped him put it on. "He decided that we shouldn't be doing anything fun today."

"Ah, yes," Viktor said, making Lucinda turn to him. He sat by his desk, unsurprisingly holding a mirror in his hand as he checked his reflection out. He hadn't even cleaned his things yet, and his pet dragon was chewing on one of his pens again. "Blame the guy who said to do your job instead of doing the thing you're paid to do."

By his own desk, Azul slung his bag over his shoulders and shrugged. "Hey, for once I agree with her. It's fun blaming you."

"Congratulations," Lucinda replied. "For the first time in your life, you're actually right about something."

He placed his thumb and index finger under his chin while clicking his tongue. "I'm always right."

"And now you're back to being wrong. The moment was fun while it lasted."

Anthea stood up from her chair and yawned. "As much as I would love to sit down and watch Lucinda prove Azul wrong again—"

Azul furrowed his brows. "Hey!"

"—I unfortunately don't have the energy to listen to your bickering. I spent the entire day wielding my ability, and I need to sleep. I'll see you all tomorrow. Or in three days if I decide to ditch work."

*Spent the entire day wielding her ability.* It made Lucinda hum inside, but she kept it to herself. She simply showed Anthea a smile as she held Greyson's hand. "I'll see you all in two days as well. Be careful and make sure Viktor doesn't pepper spray Azul for ten minutes again while I'm gone."

Azul clicked his tongue again as he rolled his eyes. "This is workplace abuse. I can report you all to HR if I want to."

Though Viktor was shorter than him, he still grabbed Azul by the neck and dragged him down to his height. Azul screamed in resistance, but Viktor kept rubbing his fist on his head before dropping letting him go. "But I know you don't want to because you actually love us and love spending time and working with us."

"No, I hate you all."

With one last chuckle, Lucinda tugged Greyson's hand and led him to the elevator. Once they were inside, she leaned her back on the glass walls and held her arms. Usually, she would carry Greyson the entire time until they would get back home. But now, she could barely carry her bag without her arms shaking as if they were going to break soon. It was a miracle she could still stand, even. The day after she killed Nyx, she had to spend another sick day because she could barely get out of bed.