COBALT: The Red Phantom (Book One)

Chapter 26: Friendly Threatening (Part 1/3)

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Happy Holidays~ 

Here's your present!

And the best Xmas song around.

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          A rumbling purr carved through Káel's veil of dreams, a wet nose nudging at his chin for attention as he drearily cracked open his eyes. "Jay," he groaned, stopping as his fingers slipped through the cat's coat, longer and rougher hairs than the one he knew.

          His expression soured as he forced his eyes to focus, the patchy brown cat slamming her forehead against his chin as another request for attention.

          "Ragdoll?"

          The cat responded with a meow, driving her paws into his chest to massage the area while Káel took in his surroundings. He wasn't on a bed, but the spacious red couch he'd found himself on certainly wasn't his. Neither was the stretch of woven carpet, nor the embroidered white curtains drawn over an evening washed view of the forest.

          A scratching pain strained his muscles as he leaned up. The dizzy nausea from last night hadn't subsided, but the pounding headache had softened to a bearable migraine.

          "You're okay..."

          Drawn to the sound of a voice, Káel found Phantom, stood in the closest corner to watch over him in the expanse of a room.  "Where are we?"

          Fate had a horrible way of answering his questions, a door slamming shut to his left as Ray came into the room and stopped. The relief in his eyes washed away with a wave of silent irritation, the blonde muttering cross phrases under his breath as he left into another room.

          "That thing doesn't bleed," Phantom said, seizing Káel's attention once more as he noticed Puff curled near his feet. "Blondie must be some sort of golem, but the materials are something I've never seen before."

          Káel scrunched his brow, biting back the pain in his joints as he pulled a layer of thin covers off along with Ragdoll. "What do you mean he-"

          A door opened again, Ray approaching the couch with a small bag in tow. A thick wrap of cloth was covering most of his forearm,  but aside from the obvious injury, any evidence from the prior night's scuffle had been completely erased. With an overly friendly smile, the elite grabbed a chair along his journey, placing it right next to the couch to sit and face Káel. "So."

          "So?" Káel gave Ray a blank stare, staying composed was easier when he looked sickly to begin with, and he would need every ounce of convincing charisma to squeeze out of this one. 

          "Pixie Dust? Unicorns? Ring a bell?"

          Káel could feel his heartbeat quickening, the soft smile stuck to Ray's face was worse than the parenting glare he'd always try and pull off. "Why am I in your room?"

          "Because if I had knocked any harder on your door, Sev would've stormed out and kicked my butt. Seriously, did you drug Truvius or something?"

          Káel slowly shook his head, brushing his fingers along a patch of cloth that had been stuck to his cheek. He could still feel a tender tingle from where Puff's flames had licked part of his face. "I wanted to take a walk to clear my head."

          "In the forest, at night, without a trail?" Ray finished, raising his eyebrows in expectation for Káel to spit out a better lie than that. When all he received in return was silence, he slouched back on the chair with a heavy sigh, focusing on the dusty ceiling until an idea seemed to land.