The Custodes

Chapter 5 - The Hospital

Neo awoke the next morning to the smell of freshly made pancakes wafting through the air and the sound of quiet conversation a short distance away. He rubbed his eyes, glancing around the living room as he realised the lights were on and people were in the kitchen making breakfast.

Slowly pulling himself to a sitting position, he spared a glance in Synthia's direction, spotting her snoring away quietly on the couch. He grabbed the shirt he'd discarded the night before and pulled it on over his head, then stood up and started to make his way to the kitchen. He poked his head in to find Kelsie and Axel standing by the cooker, with the latter making pancakes in the frying pan while the former played the role of overseer.

They both had their backs to Neo as he entered so he cleared his throat lightly and gave a small "Hey" to gain their attention. Axel spared a glance behind him, flashing a smile to Neo before returning to his pancakes, while Kelsie waved hello. "Sleep well?" She asked curiously, which the boy gave a small nod to. "Yeah, actually. Your makeshift bed was surprisingly comfortable." He told her, which she seemed both pleased and relieved by. "You didn't mind sleeping on the floor?" "Not at all. Plus, I had Synthia as company." Neo said, hearing Axel give a small snort of laughter. "I'm guessing you two got the chance to talk?" He said over his shoulder, keeping his focus on his cooking duties "She's can be very...temperamental. Talking to her feels like traversing a minefield sometimes."

Neo thought back to the conversation he'd had with the girl, failing to recall any point where she'd been 'temperamental', as Axel put it. "I think we actually managed to get along. Though she was a little-" Neo cut himself off, realising he was about to say something that could possibly offend Synthia in front of her brother. Axel merely chuckled however, a tiny smile on his face. "Flirty?" He said, finishing Neo's thought for him. "Yeah, exactly..." The boy said, a little surprised by Axel's understanding. "As well as temperamental, she's also extremely open. If she takes a liking to you, she'll definitely make it known. And if she has an opinion on something, she'll make that known too." He said, amused by the conversation regarding his sister. "You think she likes me?" Neo questioned, somewhat surprised considering he's never had any experience with romantic in the past.

Axel gave a shrug, trying to pass a non-chalant attitude onto Neo. "I'm not sure. She could be doing it for fun, or she could genuinely be interested. Thing is, a bunch of guys in the past have fucked her over; badly. So if anything does happen, I have to ask, please - don't do that." The boy said, giving Neo a genuine look of desperation and receiving a small, slightly hesitant nod in response. "Stop trying to intimidate him. Neo's a nice person, he wouldn't do anything like that." Kelsie chimed in, with Axel spinning to flash her a look of shock "I wasn't doing that at all! I'm just trying to make him aware of the stuff that's-" "Teasing~" Kelsie sang as she patted Axel's head, cutting her boyfriend off from his defensive retort "We all know you've got good intentions. Right Neo?"

Neo had no idea what sort of intentions Axel had. Out of all the others - in the space of a day - he felt like he'd probably spoken to him the least, but upon further thought he did save Neo after the explosion, and took a pretty severe injury fighting off Nexus. So far Axel been going above and beyond for him. "Right." Neo answered confidently, with Axel giving a small sigh while simultaneously looking somewhat embarrassed "By the way, I never quite got to speak to you yesterday. Thanks for what you did, with Nexus and with taking me here. You really saved our asses, mine most of all." "Ack, I'd do it for anyone." Axel said with a dismissive humbleness, glancing back to flash a small smile then returning to the pan "And your brother obviously came here looking for trouble. I just wish I'd hit him more dead-on."
Neo stewed on this for a second, hearing the very faint, dangerous lining to Axel's tone. He didn't blame him though, Nexus should've been killed a long time ago - for the betterment of society.