Chapter 37:
A day in the office
Constantine:
“You want us to bottle our emotions?” Frederik and Ferenc ask as one. “Cool.”
I notice how one of them took a little bit more to answer. The same elf always lags. I narrow my eyes at them, and they take a step back.
“Ok, elves, the game is up. I can tell you apart, but I need you to be truthful. Which one of you is who?” I ask them. Daniel is at the edge of his seat, watching us. And not just him. Everyone from the team is holding their breath.
“Nonsense,” both elves say, yet, one of them lags, as usual. I point at the right elf.
“He lags, when it is his time to answer,” I say, and they share a look.
“Well, darn, Ferenc. He is onto us,” the right elf says, and I have an aha moment. This must be Frederik.
“If you’d just focus on the telepathic link, Fred, we wouldn’t have this problem,” Ferenc says.
I size them both up. They dress in the same clothes, but I see slight differences. Ferenc’s clothes are more pressed, than Frederik’s. Also, his nails are a tab bit more manicured.
“I can tell you apart from your clothes as well,” I say then, smug as I can be. The two look at me as if I have told them that I know all their secrets, and I am going to feed them to the yellow press.
“Listen here you,” Ferenc says, waving his finger. “You are not going to tell anyone how you can tell us apart!”
“Or what,” I say, not feeling threatened in the slightest.
Ferenc opens his mouth, to show off his fangs, but Frederik nudges him in the sides.
“Come now, brother. You are bad at bluffing. If you have finished that threat, you would have had to eat him, like the last one,” Frederik says. I blink at that.
“I didn’t eat him. I couldn’t so much as bite him,” Ferenc retorts.
“Wait, what?” I chuckle uncomfortably, and look at Agafia. “Has he... have they?”
“I am afraid so. We got them straight after they were reprogrammed,” Agafia says. I edge away from the demon twins.
“We have a chip in our brains, that stops us from biting people,” Ferenc tells me, as if someone has kicked his hamster recently. Honestly, why does he sound so sad? What the hell is wrong with him?
“Still, the chip doesn’t stop us from shooting people with guns, or crossbows,” Frederik winks at me, and shows off his gun. It is the latest model, that uses the mana of the user to fire barrages.
“Not that anyone uses crossbows anymore. They are so last century,” Ferenc says. “Still, they look more badass.”
“Too true,” Frederik says.
“Wait, there were crossbows on Ursula 590?” Daniel asks. He seems to have gotten over the fact that our two security experts used to bite people, once said people managed to tell them apart.
“Yes. There were crossbows in Atlantis. So, when the humans come to the Cosmos, and tried to take it over, they brought their weapons with them,” Ferenc says. I can feel a slight mana surge around him. His clothes are getting wrinklier. Ah, so he had figured out how I can tell them apart?
“But the crossbows of the Atlantis age are not like the crossbows of your Middle Ages. For one, they use plasma bolts, instead of wooden ones. For another, you can load them up with a thought,” I blink between the twins. Darn, I can’t tell them apart anymore. They smile smugly at me, and put on their personal emotional headsets. “We will bottle you some victory potions.”
I give up on trying to tell them apart, and turn to Nahndor next.
“So, if you have some spare time?” I suggest. He looks up from a document he has been reading, and shrugs.
“Sure, I suppose I can bottle something up, while I complete my work,” I hand him the headset, but he takes out his own from a drawer. So, I hand him the solvent instead, and he is back to reading. A pure white potion appears in his bottle soon after. He sighs at that, but doesn’t comment.
“I didn’t know he is embarrassed over bottling his emotions,” Daniel says, only loud enough, so I can hear.
“White glow is for embarrassment. White potion is for boredom,” I tell him. Then, with the brightest smile I can manage, I turn towards Agafia.
“So, care to share in the experiment?” I ask her. I know for a fact that she has a headset. She seems to like watching comedies, and bottling her emotions for rainy days. She giggles, and covers her mouth.
“Oh, my. This is quite the thing to ask,” she says, and then nods. “But it does sound like fun. To think, the thief might get caught because of our potions.”
I help her load the solvent, as her hands are tiny. Then, I turn to Rhea, only to see that Daniel is already helping her with the setting up. I narrow my eyes, when I see that her potion has a white glow, but red bubbles in the transparent liquid.
Daniel catches me staring, and winks at me. I huff, and go back to my desk. Before I am able to put on the headset, Daniel comes to me.
“Don’t be like that, she is just a friend,” he tells me, as he kisses me on the forehead. “While you are my big spoon. My cuddly teddy bear. My sugar Naga.”
I chuckle at all the cutesy nicknames, and then glance at Rhea. Instead of her being put out, she looks at us with a dreamy smile on her face. Her eyes are even twinkling. Rhea winks at me, and then her potion begins to glow beige.
“See? She knows that she and I are just friends,” Daniel says, but I am not placated so easily.
“You keep flirting with her,” I tell him, in a whiny voice.
“I keep trying to befriend her. Tine, I don’t know if you know, but you are the only one for me. Besides, haven’t you seen how Rhea looks at Nahndor? I mean, I can’t be any competition to him. He is all muscle,” Daniel nods at Nahndor, who seems to have heard him.
Nahndor looks at Rhea, who waves from across the room. The tall Naga blushes, and the faintest outlines of the giveaway red bubbles appear in his potion.
“If we don’t nudge them, they will dance around each other for the rest of their lives,” I say. Daniel grins, and then pulls out his phone.
“What was the name of that matchmaker that uses us to promote her site again?” I like the way he thinks. Honestly, he is a human after my own heart.
Chapter 37:
A day in the office
Constantine:
“You want us to bottle our emotions?” Frederik and Ferenc ask as one. “Cool.”
I notice how one of them took a little bit more to answer. The same elf always lags. I narrow my eyes at them, and they take a step back.
“Ok, elves, the game is up. I can tell you apart, but I need you to be truthful. Which one of you is who?” I ask them. Daniel is at the edge of his seat, watching us. And not just him. Everyone from the team is holding their breath.
“Nonsense,” both elves say, yet, one of them lags, as usual. I point at the right elf.
“He lags, when it is his time to answer,” I say, and they share a look.
“Well, darn, Ferenc. He is onto us,” the right elf says, and I have an aha moment. This must be Frederik.
“If you’d just focus on the telepathic link, Fred, we wouldn’t have this problem,” Ferenc says.
I size them both up. They dress in the same clothes, but I see slight differences. Ferenc’s clothes are more pressed, than Frederik’s. Also, his nails are a tab bit more manicured.
“I can tell you apart from your clothes as well,” I say then, smug as I can be. The two look at me as if I have told them that I know all their secrets, and I am going to feed them to the yellow press.
“Listen here you,” Ferenc says, waving his finger. “You are not going to tell anyone how you can tell us apart!”
“Or what,” I say, not feeling threatened in the slightest.
Ferenc opens his mouth, to show off his fangs, but Frederik nudges him in the sides.
“Come now, brother. You are bad at bluffing. If you have finished that threat, you would have had to eat him, like the last one,” Frederik says. I blink at that.
“I didn’t eat him. I couldn’t so much as bite him,” Ferenc retorts.
“Wait, what?” I chuckle uncomfortably, and look at Agafia. “Has he... have they?”
“I am afraid so. We got them straight after they were reprogrammed,” Agafia says. I edge away from the demon twins.
“We have a chip in our brains, that stops us from biting people,” Ferenc tells me, as if someone has kicked his hamster recently. Honestly, why does he sound so sad? What the hell is wrong with him?
“Still, the chip doesn’t stop us from shooting people with guns, or crossbows,” Frederik winks at me, and shows off his gun. It is the latest model, that uses the mana of the user to fire barrages.
“Not that anyone uses crossbows anymore. They are so last century,” Ferenc says. “Still, they look more badass.”
“Too true,” Frederik says.
“Wait, there were crossbows on Ursula 590?” Daniel asks. He seems to have gotten over the fact that our two security experts used to bite people, once said people managed to tell them apart.
“Yes. There were crossbows in Atlantis. So, when the humans come to the Cosmos, and tried to take it over, they brought their weapons with them,” Ferenc says. I can feel a slight mana surge around him. His clothes are getting wrinklier. Ah, so he had figured out how I can tell them apart?
“But the crossbows of the Atlantis age are not like the crossbows of your Middle Ages. For one, they use plasma bolts, instead of wooden ones. For another, you can load them up with a thought,” I blink between the twins. Darn, I can’t tell them apart anymore. They smile smugly at me, and put on their personal emotional headsets. “We will bottle you some victory potions.”
I give up on trying to tell them apart, and turn to Nahndor next.
“So, if you have some spare time?” I suggest. He looks up from a document he has been reading, and shrugs.
“Sure, I suppose I can bottle something up, while I complete my work,” I hand him the headset, but he takes out his own from a drawer. So, I hand him the solvent instead, and he is back to reading. A pure white potion appears in his bottle soon after. He sighs at that, but doesn’t comment.
“I didn’t know he is embarrassed over bottling his emotions,” Daniel says, only loud enough, so I can hear.
“White glow is for embarrassment. White potion is for boredom,” I tell him. Then, with the brightest smile I can manage, I turn towards Agafia.
“So, care to share in the experiment?” I ask her. I know for a fact that she has a headset. She seems to like watching comedies, and bottling her emotions for rainy days. She giggles, and covers her mouth.
“Oh, my. This is quite the thing to ask,” she says, and then nods. “But it does sound like fun. To think, the thief might get caught because of our potions.”
I help her load the solvent, as her hands are tiny. Then, I turn to Rhea, only to see that Daniel is already helping her with the setting up. I narrow my eyes, when I see that her potion has a white glow, but red bubbles in the transparent liquid.
Daniel catches me staring, and winks at me. I huff, and go back to my desk. Before I am able to put on the headset, Daniel comes to me.
“Don’t be like that, she is just a friend,” he tells me, as he kisses me on the forehead. “While you are my big spoon. My cuddly teddy bear. My sugar Naga.”
I chuckle at all the cutesy nicknames, and then glance at Rhea. Instead of her being put out, she looks at us with a dreamy smile on her face. Her eyes are even twinkling. Rhea winks at me, and then her potion begins to glow beige.
“See? She knows that she and I are just friends,” Daniel says, but I am not placated so easily.
“You keep flirting with her,” I tell him, in a whiny voice.
“I keep trying to befriend her. Tine, I don’t know if you know, but you are the only one for me. Besides, haven’t you seen how Rhea looks at Nahndor? I mean, I can’t be any competition to him. He is all muscle,” Daniel nods at Nahndor, who seems to have heard him.
Nahndor looks at Rhea, who waves from across the room. The tall Naga blushes, and the faintest outlines of the giveaway red bubbles appear in his potion.
“If we don’t nudge them, they will dance around each other for the rest of their lives,” I say. Daniel grins, and then pulls out his phone.
“What was the name of that matchmaker that uses us to promote her site again?” I like the way he thinks. Honestly, he is a human after my own heart.
