Moon's Rite

Close but no Noble

"And you know what else really gets me?"

"Please stop."

Tony rambled on, trying to see just how long and hard she had to push before Alistair reached his limit. "Where's the solidarity? All these different species I can see fighting. Looking for supremacy or survival or just a decent living. But why does there have to be so much fighting within the species itself? Seems like most of them could have figured out that, in the long term, killing ourselves in any capacity is just another step towards extinction."

Alistair didn't have an answer or any other sort of commentary, but Tony noted the grim look in his eyes that marked a shift from annoyed at the incessant talking to a genuine concern. His dark eyes slanted towards her at her sudden silence, one brow raising. She grinned back and finally went silent.

They were almost to their next meeting for the day.

Tony pushed into the posh building lobby, all glass and austere blacks and whites. Sleek lines and high tastes. Tony and Alistair were out of place in jeans and leather, sticking out amongst the business attire, but that didn't stop them from striding straight up to the front desk. Tony gave the pretty brunette receptionist a flirty smile and leaned an elbow on the desk.

"Hello love. We're here to see Oliver."

The woman looked annoyed, but Tony imagined she got hit on and had impossible things demanded of her on a daily basis. Her tone was neutral and her words clipped. "Do you have an appointment?"

"We do. Might have upset your whole day actually. I sort of insisted on a meeting short notice."

Her annoyed expression turned pinched in clear recognition of the event that had likely had her making rescheduling calls all morning. "Ah. Tony and... I'm afraid I never got the name of your companion." Her gaze flicked towards Alistair before dropping down to make a call up to her boss.

"Alistair."

She nodded as she dialed. Tony gave her another smile. "Sorry about all this. Bit of an emergency."

The woman obviously didn't care. She probably heard that line in relation to being out of office supplies or coffee. She hummed, then talked to whoever had picked up. "Tony and Alistair are here sir. Shall I send them up?" She got an affirmative so she directed them to a private elevator and sent them on their way. Tony nodded in appreciation.

"Thank you love. Have a wonderful day." The sentiments earned her a little surprise, but no comment. She led the way to the elevator and let Alistair hit the call button. She caught him eyeing her and raised a brow in question. A smirk pulled one side of his mouth up.

"Love?"

Tony grinned, shrugging. "Just slipped out. She reminded me of someone." Her smile turned devious as the elevator doors opened and they stepped on. "What's the matter? Jealous? I'm sure I can come up with something cute for you too, mon petit chou."

The doors shut and the lift began to move without input from either of them.

Alistair's smirk slipped and he rolled his eyes. "No. Absolutely no pet names."

"Of course mon tigre."

"Listen princess-" Whatever complaint he might have been about to deliver was abruptly forgotten as both of them froze. Something was setting off both of their instincts for danger and all banter was suspended. Tony felt the hairs on the back of her arms raise as she registered the faintest of scents. If she wasn't so familiar with knock out gasses, she might not have noticed.

She cursed and eyed the four innocent looking vents near the top of the elevator. Blocking them was going to take too long. She could already feel the fuzziness creeping in. Alistair jammed the doors open button to no effect, then went to pry the doors open. Tony jerked him away and pointed at the emergency hatch above them, holding her breath to avoid breathing in any more of the drug.