The Morningstar Brigade

Chapter 41

XXXXI

DAKEN

Moments After Kat's Threat

Outside the Archives, Morningstar Keep

"I mean, who does that? Who just grabs someone by their collar and threatens extremely graphic physical harm?" Daken asked, leaning up against a wall and fiddling with his jacket.

Jonathan glanced over at Daken from where he was kneeling and looked at him skeptically. "Daken, you un-ironically call yourself the 'Angel of Death.' Isn't extremely graphic physical harm kind of your whole shtick?"

Daken crossed his arms and frowned. "You know I don't like it when you use my words against me." He looked over at Jonathan out of the corner of his eye. "And where were you, anyways? I wasn't exactly touched that you just decided to leave me hanging."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jonathan stopped him. "I did not leave you hanging. We were trying to covertly reach the Keep's Archive room, and then you decided to jump out and harass a young couple. I, however, continued moving quietly towards our objective. And do you know why that is?"

"Is it because you're a buzzkill with no sense of fantastic comedic timing?" Daken asked hopefully, scanning left and right for any movement in the halls.

Jonathan rolled his eyes. "No, it's because I'm a professional," he replied, his voice echoing with the chiding tone of a weary sibling as he dexterously shifted his fingers back and forth.

"If you're such a professional, why are we still sitting around outside this door?" Daken asked impatiently.

Jonathan sighed. "Because lockpicking is an exercise in patience and precision, two concepts you were somehow born entirely without knowledge of," he said, adjusting his iron tools as he locked another pin into place.

Daken cocked his head. "Are you tense? You seem tense."

"Yes, Daken, I'm a little bit tense," Jonathan hissed. "And do you have any idea why that might be?"

"This is one of those questions that's not really a question, isn't it?" Daken reasoned, rubbing his chin.

Jonathan nodded. "See, you're learning," he said, a bead of sweat running down the side of his forehead. "I'm feeling a little bit tense, Daken, because you woke me up in the middle of the night and told me that we were going to break into the Brigade Archives during a fifteen-minute interval where all guards are off-duty." He exhaled slowly as another pin clicked. "Wipe my forehead."

"Do I have to?" Daken asked, his bottom lip curling in disgust.

"I'm currently in the middle of trying to circumvent the most complex set of interlocking mechanisms in the entire Keep. Every single movement I make has to be done perfectly, or it'll reset and we'll miss our window entirely," Jonathan explained, a weary edge to his voice. "So, yes, wipe my forehead, you big baby."

Daken head bobbed from side to side for a moment as he weighed all the options, but he eventually gave in. He reached forward and ran his hand across Jonathan's warm, moist head, cringing the entire time. When he had finished, he stared with revulsion at his palm. "I'm searing all of the flesh off of this hand when we're done here."

Jonathan grinned and stepped back from the door, admiring his work. There was a light click followed by a satisfied thunk, and then the massive Archive doors creaked open ever so slightly. "Lady Vigilant, eat your heart out," he said, sliding into the chamber with Daken following close behind.