Tempest

Part 1 - Warning Drizzle

Madeleine pressed the button beside the elevator. "I just want to see." His foot tapped in impatience, the fluorescent lights shining just a little too brightly above for the clean white image of the walls.

"Please." Espresso rolled his eyes, unimpressed and underwhelmed by the paladin's excuse. He stood facing his friend with his hands resting comfortably on his hips, not really wanting to follow him into the elevator. "We can see the clouds from the window. May we return to our business?"

The elevator door opened, and Madeleine cast a glance at the scientist before stepping inside. Espresso, after a moment of hesitation, followed. "They look really big." A considerate pause. "Like too big. Well, no, obviously not, but they look bad." Madeleine's regularly cheerful tone came concerned as he selected the ground floor. The elevator rung a very peaceful ding, slowly closed its large metal doors, and started downward with a lurching jump.

"This is wasteful." Espresso stated bluntly, his expression nothing short of disappointed. He didn't seem at all bothered by the sudden, mildly concerning start of the elevator. While Madeleine nearly fell backward and just caught himself on the railing, the scientist barely moved or noticed at all. Just went on talking with an amazingly sarcastic tone. "Are we going to make out shapes in the clouds, then? Roll around in grassy fields like children?"

Madeleine considered for a moment before answering. "That would be a nice date." A sharp brown eye met him, stabbing through his mind in a moment of realization. "Oh, no, I don't know why I said that." He turned to look at the scientist, who seemed to be side-glancing him to death. "Not trying to imply anything. It's only-" The Paladin cleared his throat and threw away the rest of his sentence. "Nevermind."

"Um. Right." Came a short reply.

Finally the elevator came to a stop and opened again, accompanied by another ding, and let the tense air filling the space pour out into the open. Not quite in unison, the two stepped out and made their way to the front door.

Espresso's slim eyes widened invisibly as he watched dark clouds move menacingly across the sky, followed by a strangely warm wind that ruffled his short brown hair not enough to make it messy. He shot a glance up at his friend, who stood with concern in his expression.

"The wind's too warm." Madeleine finally said after a long moment. "And snow is only just melting."

The scientist shrugged and turned to step back inside the institute, followed closely by the taller paladin. Warm air encompassed them comfortably- warmer than the wind outside- as they opened the large glass doors. "You shouldn't worry about it too much." Espresso said nonchalantly. "Only strange weather. That's all it is."

Madeleine's spine spiked with a cold shiver. He itched to say it wasn't only strange weather. Somehow, he felt it was much more than that. Although he kept his mouth shut and followed his friend back into the elevator, which they rode up again until the very top floor- the fifth floor- and went down the open hall into Espresso's study. The two sat across from each other at his desk.

"As a form of payment-" the scientist started bluntly, although Madeleine paid no attention to his words. His deep blue gaze was fixed on the window, looking perfectly out onto where the clouds came from in the sky. He could make out the wind picking up dramatically by how the trees' leaves went from swaying to thrashing on their branches. The sky darkened, and without an overhead light, the room did so too. Rain began to patter softly on the window- although nothing horrible. Just a drizzle, or a sprinkle. Madeleine's attention snapped back towards his friend. "This is a regular price. I strongly hope you hadn't expected a discount- your title and alliance with me don't matter in the slightest when it comes to income."