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Silver Wolf takes a sip of her slushie, watching cherry flavored liquid rise and fall within the straw. Then a far more reluctant bite of the meh burger she got at the slushie place, but a deal is a deal, to be honored or risk losing access to her games etc etc. She glances at the apple she got for basically the same reason, but that’s for later. Then she goes back to skimming the feed from Star Rail FEST on her phone, because it’s kinda being productive. (It’s the greatest spot for stuff to tease Stelle about later she’s seen in her life.)
More importantly, it’s distracting enough that she won’t look up by accident. She took enough psychic damage last time she did that, thanks.
[18.73 System Hours earlier]
It takes a lot to rattle Silver Wolf, but after the past few minutes, she’s starting to wonder if there’s something about Planarcadia that makes things stop sticking to their normal patterns.
And no, it’s not that she doesn’t have a real Script and Blade’s is a blank page. That accounts for the Mask getting swiped out from under them. It also accounts for failing the persuasion check with that detective, probably.
What it doesn’t account for is Dan Heng - the little azure dragon that Blade wants to kill horribly - tracking them down himself. And Blade not trying to kill him even a little bit. And their weird argument ending in them agreeing to work together.
(And the way they kept leaning closer as they argued, and Dan Heng grabbing Blade’s wrist at the end. Like seriously, what was that??)
But they have bigger problems than whatever the hell that was, so back to business.
“I don’t get it,” Silver Wolf says, sighing aggravatedly. “That good-for-nothing detective didn’t even blink an eye before selling us out to Pearl, and you still plan on working with him?”
Blade nods. “There are things only he can get done.”
Dan Heng frowns. “‘Selling you out’?”
“Yeah. Maybe two minutes after I left his office. No wonder he doesn’t have any customers.”
“You did say you almost shot him,” Blade points out dryly.
Sliver Wolf throws her hands in the air. “He floated out of a refrigerator like a fucking vampire!”
Blade shrugs. “Plenty of people can float.”
She huffs. “Spoken like a guy who’s never played a horror game in his life.”
Blade just gives her a look.
“What makes you think this attempt will go any better?” Dan Heng asks once it becomes clear neither of them are gonna say more without proding.
“I’ll talk to him,” Blade answers.
“Plus, I went to Pearl and took care of my bounty,” Silver Wolf adds. “Trying to turn me in again will net him a whole zero credits. We still need to get him alone though. Or at least alone with that monkey.”
Dan Heng looks skeptical. He doesn’t ask about the monkey.
Oh well.
She continues. “The problem is that he keeps going to places full of people and doing stuff with cops.”
Dan Heng sighs. “I guess there’s no point in asking how you know all this.”
Silver Wolf snorts. “Yeah, but his phone security is terrible. Maybe if he agrees to help us, I’ll delete the viruses from his phone for him.”
[0.25 System Hours earlier]
“Just our luck,” Silver Wolf grumbles.
Typical. For this mission, anyway.
Then again, given how long they’ve been stalking Ashveil (minus the occasional hour or so of sleeping in shifts with her phone set to make noises if he leaves the area), a forced break is probably for the best.
She looks over at the guys. Blade isn’t really responding. Dan Heng grimly stares at the looming silhouette of Star Rail FEST: big posters, already massive crowds, and a statue of the Astral Express’s conductor at the top of a tower. “He went inside, didn’t he?”
“Yep,” Silver Wolf replies, popping the p and kinda wishing she had bubble gum. She ran out a few hours ago and hasn’t gotten around to restocking.
Welp, I definitely have time now.
…wait, I actually have a better idea.
She pulls up a map on her phone. “There’s a slushie place two blocks from here.”
Dan Heng turns to stare at her. “…you’re serious.”
“Are you invoking the deal?” Blade asks.
Silver Wolf puts her hands on her hips. “Oh yeah.”
“What ‘deal’?” Dan Heng asks.
She ignores him. “Hey Blade, does the deal include him too?”
Blade only hesitates for a second. “Yes. On the condition that you also get something for later.”
“What have I been dragged into this time?” Dan Heng asks the sky.
(The sky doesn’t respond, obviously. But they’ll all be a lot more careful about talking to the sky by the end of the day. At least, until the Games are over.)
[Present time]
Silver Wolf has no regrets, except maybe coming to Planarcadia in the first place. Even though her actions have directly contributed to this. Somehow. Probably. Whatever ‘this’ is.
She makes the mistake of looking up, and doesn’t feel any less like she’s losing her Aeonsdammed mind than last time.
Blade and Dan Heng are still sitting next to each other at the little cafe table. Each is holding a slushie with a little curly straw. Blade’s is passion fruit, and Dan Heng’s is sea salt; she was merciful today. Mostly because she thinks the little curly straws are funny.
The thing is, Dan Heng is still staring at Blade like he’s studying her fellow Hunter for weaknesses. Or like the planet miraculously won’t blow up if he’s looking at Blade the whole time. And Blade is mostly ignoring him, eyes on his slushie, or Silver Wolf’s plate to ensure she’s eating food as per their agreement.
But other times, Blade will look up, meet Dan Heng’s gaze, and stare back until the Nameless looks away. The time varies so much she can’t tell if there’s a pattern to it.
While neither of them are looking at her, Silver Wolf surreptitiously tilts her phone up to take a picture. To have evidence of their mental break. Or show to someone else to confirm that they’re also seeing this. Or maybe just for the blackmail folders.
Hell, maybe this is normal for Dan Heng, she doesn’t know him that well. She should send the photo to Stelle and ask.
…Stelle’s also busy with Star Rail FEST. Probably. Silver Wolf will have to ask her later.
Dan Heng finally chickens out and stares into his slushie instead. Silver Wolf swears his cheeks are a little reddish. She takes another picture, to verify.
…maybe Ashveil will look normal after this.
She can’t believe she’s looking forward to seeing that fucking vampire detective again.