Venom

The voice that broke the air certainly wasn’t the one she expected to hear, but it would seem rumors about his disappearance had been greatly exaggerated. The blond felt her venomous resolve falter as he approached from the thunder across the room, the fleeting traces of a frown find its way through. Why did it have to be him? Celeste felt like she was being welcomed too fondly by the man, like some long-lost niece or daughter finally come home after a long tenure at school.

It grated her nerves, but not enough so that she would seek to scorn the behavior outright, never once. By comparison to other criminal associates in her past, Celeste found mister Cerrone to be more warming company for conversation. None of it changed the fact that he had a way of getting under her skin, but she couldn’t remember the last time anyone gave her the feeling of ‘being looked out for’ in the way Cassidy did. A memory of another emotion from a lifetime ago perhaps? It was the only reason she didn’t feel compelled to incinerate him, but there was no denying the redness that grew in her cheeks in wake of his ‘apology’ for failing to keep in touch.

The blond felt her gaze shy away - ”I suppose so,” the confidence having faded from her voice in his presence. If anything, she was the one who should have been apologizing to anyone – the weight of disappointment was crushing. Every moment almost felt wasted, having endlessly chased infatuations ever fading. The mention of that newfound strength was like a rock upon the still waters of her pensive grief, a sharp but whispered gasp given when she looked back to the former in-ring fighter. The happiness in his voice would vastly contrast against the weight she felt against the words. If he only knew half of what transpired to even stand here today, maybe he wouldn’t be so inclined to agree with those statements. Celeste certainly couldn’t find herself to, even if she had grown beyond her own comprehension from when this journey had started.

The girl at times wondered when she was going to wake up from it all.

Fortunate it was that he turned his attention to business, reminding her why she was here in the first place. Celeste would offer the room a skeptical look, before she would step forward to lower the volume in her voice. ”I’ve stumbled onto something rather unsettling. Where is Derrick? I need to speak with him.” The air made to set with a newfound tension, that was until the sound of crashing cooking pans and utensils clattered unceremoniously through the room. The witch was forced to offer the oaf and his mess a rather incredulous stare, the strength in her voice returned.

”What in the world is going on around here?”

PL: 80,000 | Antisense: Off
TWC: (+475)1,103

The blond couldn’t help a further observation to the state of things when Cassidy began his tale - ”You don’t say,” she would interject, eyes wandering lazily over the room. The witch followed suit to accompany Cerrone to another part of the castle, having forgotten most of its layout in her absence to begin with, it didn’t hurt to lean on his experience here. She couldn’t imagine this place to provide the part time rancher much entertainment any more than the headquarters could, or wherever else he sought to waste his time as of late. Without the threat of being decimated, or the need to stand on ceremony to the masses, Celeste couldn’t see this place any busier than it was without the boss around to provide an agenda. Cerrone certainly didn’t seem to have one, other than end of summer cleaning from the looks of it. His attesting to a routine of mundane chores implied to the girl what he might have been overlooking, what may very well have been the unfortunate truth.

Celeste held her tongue on the matter.

They passed by a collection of rooms enroute to the main corridor, some of which appeared to be in the process of being cleaned, for what purpose Celeste knew not. One was more akin to a study or lounge, in which several aides had a difficult time mounting a brand-new television on the wall over a fireplace. It didn’t seem practical, but then neither did half the things about what made this seeming capital of the planet continue to run. It was any wonder why there weren’t people raving at the gates over any number of issues the Accords had brought to light. Though the witch could no longer be bothered to care over such things, it wasn’t as though they affected her anyway.

There came a sudden boom from one of the rooms, but Cassidy seemed to ignore it in his spiel recalling his day to day; a comical contrast to his words as Celeste scrunched her nose in displeasure, waving a cloud of smoke out of her face. They came to an abrupt stop, only for the former competitor to suddenly start to whine over not getting to have any fun? Celeste had to blink several times over this. Did she hear all of that right? The sudden return of the professional Cassidy was met with a wide smirk, then a hearty laugh as the witch’s staff made to vanish with a puff of smoke.

”But you are the house keeper!”

The blond had another fit of giggles, offering a shrug to his offer to get in touch with Ottoy at the earliest convenience.

”If he’s not around, he’s not around. I just supposed he would have liked to hear about all the fun things I’ve been doing.” A cocky grin. ”But what about you?” The witch leans forward and pokes Cerrone in his stomach, before looking up at him with a usual smugness to her mannerism. ”Is that new strength all potato chips, or did you actually get out while I was away?”

PL: 80,000 | Antisense: OFF
TWC: (+517)1620

The witch couldn’t help but roll her eyes with Cassidy, the comment to her ever-sly tongue nothing more than expected from a stick in the mud. She tried to have her fun with the old cowboy, but he never would budge unlike so many others were wont to do. It made it rather difficult to rile him up, that laid back mannerism, though perhaps that’s why she persisted where others may have given up. It had become like a little game to the witch, as if she were some mischievous kitten toying with the grumpy old dog trying to get in his afternoon nap. The witch would blink with his mention of Konats, some competition, and getting back into shape. She held her doubts about the latter. Celeste lit up once more, all starry-eyed as she made to touch briefly at her collarbone with a smile.

”You were in a tournament there!? I was in prison!” she interjected with a tone rather jocose given her choice of words. Still, she was rather curious about what compelled him to venture there for a tournament of all things. Did he feel guilty over blowing her little adventure off? Maybe he just needed to get away from that teeny little ranch she always recalled him going on about at dinner. Who knew. Celeste was partially disinclined to care, were it not for how much stronger he seemed to be. At least from where she stood, that dusty golden brown appeared more vibrantly to the girl’s special sight than it had before. It begged to question how much farther their employer, or any of the other Elites, had grown in her time away from Central City.

The blond gave an annoyed huff when he tried to ‘pull rank’ on her so to speak, crossing her arms to look away from the comeback fighter, her disinterest evident by the aimless observation of old paintings of a knight bathed in sakura flames. There was an awkward minute of silence, albeit the muffled shouts of more aides from the prior hall. Celeste would finally relent, that signature smugness returning as the witch made to point at the rancher with a rather unsettling smile.

”Well, too bad. Unless you want to try and force it out of me, champ, then I suppose it can wait until he returns.” The witch lowers her hand to feign an inspection of her nails. ”In the meantime, maybe you’d like to fetch me something to eat? I’m rather famished, and I’m sure you wouldn’t want a cranky witch on your hands?”

Celeste would snap her gaze up to Cassidy, charm and pleasantry dropped like a hat.

”I’d certainly hope not.”

PL: 80,000 | Antisense: OFF
TWC: (+448)2068