Count The Shadows (Prequel to Test the Limits)

Backfire

"Wake up, we're here." Anti heard Dark's deep rumbling voice laced with weariness as he gently shook Anti's shoulder to wake him up.

"Where are we?" Anti yawned, sleepily running his eyes with one hand while raising the other high above his head to stretch.

"Coast of Florida at a beach house. It's a damn nice one too." Dark remarked as Anti started to stand.

Since he lost circulation to his legs due to the position he slept in, they felt heavy like lead, which caused him to crumple to the ground as soon as he got to his feet.

"Easy there tiger, I'll get you a coffee to help you wake up." Dark chuckled as he caught the Irishman before he hit the floor, carefully laying him back down in the chair before going to the corner with the minibar and retrieving a coffee machine from under the counter and plugged it in, making enough for two cups.

Dark was certain Anti would need both.

"Why is everything black?" Anti groggily turned in his seat to glance over at Dark.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Dark frowned as he strode over to Anti in two steps, his red and black eyes boring into Anti's green and black ones.

"I don't mean it like that. I mean like the jet, our uniforms, even our pjs are all black. Why?" Anti rephrased the question, his face turning a light red hue as he pretended to be interested in his black shoes.

"Infelix's logic is that everything goes good with black." Dark sighed with a dramatic eye roll.

"He's not wrong." Anti smirked.

It was Dark's turn to blush as he hastily went back to the coffee machine and filled a black mug with a pixel heart up with coffee and a ton of sugar, as well as creamer, before handing it to Anti.

Anti nodded in appreciation, grabbing the mug with both hands and taking a small sip.

"Is Anti up yet?" Anti heard Infelix shout from outside the jet.

"He just woke up!" Dark shouted back, shooting Anti a look that told him to stay put before exiting the jet, leaving Anti alone.

Anti ignored Dark's silent command and instead tresses down the ramp with the mug still in his hands.

"-as long as it doesn't affect your work, I don't care." Anti heard the last part of Infelix's sentence.

"Anti, I told you to stay in the jet." Dark spoke in a dangerously calm, stern tone.

"You're not my boss." Anti pointed out, earning a smirk from Infelix and a glower from Dark before he stomped off to sit at the edge of the ocean.

"Don't mind him, he's just...him." Infelix finished lamely before walking back inside the jet to retrieve his weapon. Anti walked over to where Dark was sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees and sat down beside him in the same style.

The sun was barely hovering over the horizon at this point, the sky a beautiful backdrop of reds, oranges, and pinks.

"You didn't hear anything else, did you?" Dark spoke up after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"No." Anti shook his head, wondering what Dark and Infelix were talking about.

"Are you okay?" Anti asked Dark, his eyes scanning him for any obvious signs of injury.

Dark looks completely healthy, so what was Infelix worried about that would affect Dark's work?, Anti thought in mild frustration. He hated not knowing things, especially when other people knew things he didn't.