"AH! That hit the spot!" A man shouted, slamming his shot glass on the table.
"You seem excited to drink today." A woman in a tight black dress remarked, sitting beside the man as she poured another glass of whisky for him. "I see so many men from your … organization here as well, is it a time for celebration?"
"I suppose it could be for some." The man said, playing with the liquid in the glass. "Though I can't be certain about the boss."
"What happened?" She asked, looking behind him to a table with Eden, Ages, Celt and one other man were sitting and talking, not a single woman on the table.
"Nothing important." He said dismissively, putting a hand on her exposed thigh. "How have you been, Doris?"
"Fine." She said, batting her eyes at him and looking behind just in time to make eye contact with Eden who called her over. "Excuse me, your boss wants to see me."
"But-"
She didn't want for him to complete his sentence as she took off to Eden, almost skipping all the way there as he took her hand and placed her on his lap.
"Never mind her, Bruce." The man beside him said, patting him on the back. "She had always had her sights on the boss and it seems he reciprocates it as well."
"Still, she is the best hostess in the bar, Dayton," Bruce complained, drowning another cup of heavy liquor down, annoyed.
"There are still other women here," Dayton said, indicating some of the other women at the side, wearing a similar dress as Doris, as they made their way to them. "See?"
"Fine. Fine." The man said, slightly drunk now as he made eye contact with someone across the bar. "Ooo~. She's pretty. I'll be back."
"Bru-"
"Would you like another drink to be poured for you?" A woman in pigtails asked, holding the bottle out in front of Dayton.
"Sure." He said, giving up and settling into his seat as his friend disappeared in the crowd.
____________________
"How has business been, Doris?" Ages asked the woman sitting on Eden's lap.
"It's been pretty slow these days." She said, pouring him another cup of liquor. "Because of that, I have to work extra shifts. But I don't mind, because I was able to meet you all today!"
"It's good to see you so enthusiastic still." Eden laughed, trying to hold her still on his lap. "I can't say the same about me though."
"I heard that something happened today, care to tell me about it?" She asked, tucking her thick, black hair behind her ears as she leaned in closer to Eden.
"I would rather not," Eden said quickly turning to Ages. "Right?"
"They are on a need-to-know basis." Ages explained, his dark skin almost making him invisible, if not for the neon coloured lights. "Celt had fun though."
"I did." The man laughed gleefully. "Man it felt good to shove that son of a b-"
"Celt." The man beside them scolded as he looked over his gold rim glasses with gold chains all along the ends, his blue-brown eyes twinkling.
"What? He is that."
"I am just reminding you of the bet we made. You were just about to lose."
"Oh shit," Celt said, covering his mouth with his hands. "Thanks, Fern. I almost swore there."
"Uh-"
"So, are there any new hostesses here, Doris?" Celt turned from the man, ignoring him completely as he began talking to the woman.
"I don't think so." She said, thinking. "Oh, we have a new bartender. He makes the best Dry Martini I have ever tried."
"Then I should ask him to make me some," Eden said, getting to his feet. "I could do for some Dry Martini right about now."
"I will take you to him the-"
Ring. Ring.
"Sorry." Eden pulled out his phone and paused, reading the caller ID.
"Who is it?" Ages asked, noticing Eden's expression.
"Nothing." He said quickly. "I will just be a minute."
"Let me come with you-"
"Stay here." He said sternly to Doris and everyone else at the table. "I will be only a minute."
"O-ok." She said, sitting down reluctantly as Eden made his way out of the loud room where everyone was busy dancing around, the booming of the music contrasting with the vibrations from his phone.
_________________
Sneaking into one of the VIP rooms, he finally picked up the persistent phone call, the noise from outside is very dull in the room.
Taking in a deep breath, he picked up the phone, "Hello?"
"WHERE ARE YOU??"
"Geez, calm down." Eden pulled the phone away from his ear, cautiously talking in it again. "And I am at a bar. What do you want?"
"Do you remember the organization known as the Wolf's Bane?" The person on the other end asked, frantic written all over his voice.
"Yes, they are the ones that Bun embezzled from." He said nonchalantly, taking in his surroundings.
The black furniture contrasted with the black curtains that he pulled away to reveal the party happening below, the bass from the music could be felt all the way from inside his shoes.
"Well, they want revenge." The one on the other line of the phone said, a scuffle could be heard around him. "They also feel betrayed believing that you did this on purpose."
"What is the problem?" Eden asked, grinning. "We will just get into a fight with them and done."
"You don't understand, boss. We still need their resources. They hold some of the most important trading docks here in Bruit. We can't go into a war with them."
"What do you suggest we do then?" Eden asked, leaning against the wall.
"How about we hand Ban over to them? Maybe they will be happy then?"
"Ban is not here anymore." He said nonchalantly. "I disposed of him. He got too into my nerves, I couldn't control myself anymore. Sorry."
"No, it isn't your fault." The man on the other line said, sighing. "I wondered when he would finally piss you off enough for you to kill him. Let me guess, the human trafficking."
"Don't remind me." Eden hissed. "I told Ages to look into it more after tonight. We had quite an eventful day."
"I can imagine." The man on the other line fell silent as the only sound that filled the room was from the music.
"Gemi? You still there?" Eden asked after waiting five seconds to a silent phone.
"I am." The man finally spoke after two more seconds. "I am just wondering what we can do to prevent this all-out war."
"Why not do what we are always good at?" Eden asked, blowing on the glass, fogging it up as he began drawing on it.
"What? Having attractive leaders?"
"Oh, you flatter me." Eden laughed, feeling a little bit of pride rise in him. "But no. I know the boss of the Wolf's Bane, he will call me for a meeting, perhaps tomorrow and will ask me to either hand Bun over or return the money, perhaps both.
"But I also know that they have been doing things behind my back. Now if only I can find out what they are."
"Maybe we can ask our best hackers to dig up dirt on them?"
"No." Eden bit into his finger, trying to think of a possible solution. "Our trackers use a specific server and they follow a certain pattern. We will need to find someone else, someone completely unknown."
"I understand. Well, I will keep looking then. Bye." The man on the other line said cheerily. "Don't get too drunk. You know how you are like."
"I know. I know." He said, keeping the phone while he continued to stare out of the window at the people below, a frown coming on his face. "Can't I just have one day where I don't have to worry about all these nonsenses?!"
Eden froze mid-rant as he heard movement behind him and turned cautiously as he saw the curtains begin to move, hand on the gun on his side, ready to attack as the curtains drew back but he could only freeze, again.
As the curtains were pulled away, dark raven hair was the first thing he saw, followed by a pair of icy blue eyes with a beauty mark just below the eyes and then smooth, rosy skin extending forever, it would seem.
The person he was looking at sat on a bed, the thin sheets covering the person's lower half but Eden didn't need to see any more to know that he is a man.
Call it intuition, if you will.
"Who are you?" He asked as the person on the bed light a cigarette, blowing out a puff of smoke before turning to him, a bored expression on his face.
Instead of answering Eden, the guy reached for his phone and began typing something on it.
"H-hey, I am asking you a question!"
Clicking his tongue, the man typed even faster before holding the phone up as an automated voice began to speak.
"You are so noisy," was all it said, confusing Eden. "I can feel you talking all the way here."
"Wait." Eden stared at the man closely. "Can't you speak?"
"Can't you speak?" Eden asked the man in front of him who merely rolled his eyes at him without so much as saying a word. "Perhaps I can't." The automated voice from the phone said in an almost teasing way. "But what does that have to do with you?" "You sure are pleasant to have conversations with," Eden complained as the man got to his feet, the cloth around his lower half dropping to the ground. Eden quickly threw his hands in front of his eyes, blocking them. "And do you have no sense of decency?" "What's the matter?" He asked with the help of the phone. "Can't bear seeing another naked man?" "No, in fact, I love seeing them," Eden said defensively. "But I have the common human courtesy to not look unless the person in front of me exclusively strips for me." "A gentleman, I see. How applaudable." The voice mocked as the man began to get dressed again, picking up the shirt and pants on the ground. "Would you like a medal for that?" "
Eden and the man walked out of the storage room, holding hands. The man had asked him if he could hold his hand back in the storage room and Eden was too dazed out to say no. Not that he minded walking like that, except for the single worry he had that the man would be able to hear his heartbeat drumming against his chest while he tried to process what was happening. Why would he ask to walk holding hands all of a sudden? Does he not like crowds? Well, I can't blame him for that. I know many people like that, hopefully, it isn't too bad. Eden would check back on the man every now and then, making sure he is not having some kind of panic attack as they walked. Though he seems to be doing so much better now as compared to before, making Eden sigh with relief. "Hey, we are going-" Eden tried to get the man's attention but he did not look like he could hear him, no matter how loud Eden shouted above the music. Sighing, he lightly scratche
"This is your car?" Noel's phone asked, staring at the sleek black Pininfarina Battista as Eden pulled out the car keys, a proud smile on his face. "Yes. One of my few cars." He said, shrugging. "Get in. We need to get you home, right?" "Sure." Noel typed before getting into the car cautiously and carefully so that he would not scratch it anywhere by mistake or anything like that. "Don't worry about anything." Eden laughed, folding the sleeves of his shirt up, hands on the wheel, revealing some tattoos all over his left arm. "Just enter in." "I feel like you are going to charge me if I do anything to your 'precious car'." Noel typed out, sitting on the chair, almost sinking into it. "Oh." "Nice right?" He asked, winking at him. "I like driving in comfort so the seats are … modified. Doesn't it feel like the seat is sucking you in?" "Is that suppos
Ring! Ring!Relentless poking on his side woke Eden up immediately as he stared at the white ceiling, confused.Huh? Where am I? He thought, staring at the ceiling blankly. White? My roof isn't white.The ringing around him continued, startling the man out of his confused stupor as he shot up, about to start looking for his phone when he heard a groaning come from beside him.As the lump of ash grey blanket beside him began to move, memories of what happened that night flooded Eden's mind.Wait. Wait. Wait. He thought, trying to make sense of what was happening at the moment. No way.A grumpy sigh came from the lump as the covers were pulled away, revealing the black-haired man with even messier hair, if what was even possible, as he looked around the bed and threw the phone at Eden before going back to bed.Subconsciously, Eden picked up the call, looking at the man sleeping beside him in wonder.
Buzz. Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! What the hell? Noel shot up from under his pillow, black hair falling all over his face as he clumsily looked around for his phone under all the messy sheets until he finally brushed his fingers on it. Yawning, the man looked opened the lock screen, seeing a number of notifications instantly. All of the notifications coming from the same person. Annoying. He thought, clearing the notifications to reveal a picture of something white and dressed in bright yellow, instantly putting a smile on his face. Speaking of which, I miss Nana. Throwing the phone down, Noel laid back on the bed, sighing as he remembered the night before. Strange man. Well, he must have gone home already by now. He dismissed that thought and tried to sleep again but the buzzing coming from his phone would not
Luckily, Noel had several sausages in the refrigerator, along with eggs, bacon, tomatoes and salami. But he did not have any beans or mushrooms. Can this be considered a classic English breakfast if there are no beans, mushrooms or blood sausages? Well, I can’t fault him, making the English breakfast was my idea so let’s just work with what we have. Eden had a merry time, frying everything together in the pan while humming to himself. I wonder when he is going to wake up. He blushed with just a compliment, I wonder how he will react like when he sees the breakfast. Hopefully, he’ll like i- Eden froze when he felt a hand wrapped around his waist from behind just as he was plating the items. A head rested on his back, hairs tickling his exposed skin and sending a shiver up his spine. “Good morning.” He managed to croak out, clearing his throat.
“What was that about?” Eden asked, watching Noel look through his small closet for something to wear. When the man didn’t answer him, Eden resorted to tapping him on the shoulders to get his attention.He still wore his clothes from the night before, though they were old, by a day, they still looked fine. Fine enough for him to go home in and change into something more presentable.Turning to Eden, Noel tilted his head to the side questioningly.“Those hand things,” Eden said, mimicking what Noel just did. “What was that about? What does it mean?”Noel looked at the man blankly for a second before his expression broke into a smiled and Eden could have sworn he saw flowers all around him.Ba bump.“Do you really want to know?” The man typed out, looking at him with a smug smile.
“You’re a gem, Celt,” Eden said into the phone. “Yeah. How is the patrol going?”“Just some cops here and there not doing their job, what else is new?” Celt laughed over the phone. “Oh, what’s this?”“What is it? Some hot chick?”“Na, boss.” Celt scoffed. “I wish it was but at this time of the day, there are either too many people or too little, to find a pretty woman is hard.”“Pretty, as in, they are not your tastes, right?” Eden asked, holding his shirt to his nose as the faint smell of vanilla filled his nose. His scent is still there!“Yeah. Why are there so many beautiful women out there, boss?” Celt complained, groaning. “I don’t think I ever will be able to settle down at this rate.”“Aren’t you annoying