I woke up in our small apartment with Dantae using me as a body pillow. Her small breaths a complete contrast to the wild gasps and moans from last night. I decided to gently peel her off of me and started to dress for the day, going into my closet and choosing one of the many copies of my signature outfit, I had just pulled up my pants when Dantae started to stir from her slumber
"Mmm, Leo... bra..." I sighed, an action which I seemed to be doing a lot lately, and helped the sleeping beauty into her black lace sheer bra before putting on my own villain club t-shirt. After leaving Dantae to dress herself, I got into the kitchen and went through my everyday motions.
I opened the large black fridge to reveal a myriad of healthy food choices, all Dantae's decision to be honest, and grabbed four eggs to make an omelet. I dashed some cilantro, celery salt, and lemon pepper onto the dish while it was cooking, then cut it in half and used a spatula to serve it to both me and the yawning Dantae.
"Smells good... but it's the third Monday in a row that we've woken up to omelettes." She walked into our roomy kitchen which had a balcony overlooking Downtown Boston, the Prudential Center and John Hancock buildings clearly visible over the alarmingly bright skyline. The only problem being she had forgotten to put on a shirt, and her light brown cleavage filled my view.
"Dantae..." I muttered, rubbing my temples. She had become far too defenseless since her first detox and now didn't even consider that we may have Washington spying on us or worse, visiting us. She looked down at herself and quickly got up, sputtering the usual insult of asshole as she speed-walked down the hallway. After returning with a shirt, she started to bite into her food, a serene smile on her face as she chewed.
"This is good, but that's beside the point. What do we do now that Armando exposed you to those in power?" She spoke in between bites of egg.
I shrugged and poked at my own food. "The same thing, try to lay low. I want to at least have some semblance of normalcy, or what humans consider such for someone of my age." I started to dig into my own egg, which despite the combination of spices I could perceive as nothing but bland.
Dantae got up to the fridge and grabbed a pitcher of water before filling it with the glasses I had grabbed from the cupboard. "What about you? Did you ever respond to your parents Christmas card?" At the mention of her family, she sat up straight and began yet another sermon on her parents.
"You won't believe what they did this time! When I sent them that response card with that picture of me on the couch, I accidentally caught you in the background cooking dinner. It's all your fault! Why do you even own that stupid apron with a heart on it!?" I looked over at my long time partner, the apron, and then back at my more recent one, Dantae.
"What is my fault? What did they tell you?" Dantae's face lit up scarlet as she stumbled over her own words.
Th-they sort of... you know... thought you were my boyfriend or fiancé... so I want you to meet them."
"Denied."
"Sorry, did I say want? I mean you have to meet them. They'll be arriving next month. Good luck with that." This pervert always gets the last laugh, and always at my expense.
"Fine, where are they flying in from again?" She gave me a weird look before coming to the realization that she'd never let me into her private life before.
"Okinawa, it's a place in Japan. You never wondered why I had a Japanese last name?" I looked her in the eyes, choosing my words carefully.
"It never really occurred to me to ask before." She frowned and started to reply when our doorbell rang. I slowly got up and gave Dantae a look, which she nodded to and became Morning Glory in my hands. I tightly gripped the five foot long blade attached to the foot long hilt in my right hand, and concentrated the photons in the sword to search for a reaction to a Temptation. When none came, I walked over to the entrance and peered out the peephole.
What greeted me was the face of Alison Walker, the Huntress from the meeting yesterday. I slowly unlocked all seven latches before opening the door to face my newest problem.
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"So... how can I help you?"
---
Ten minutes later, Alison, Dantae, and I were sat around our small kitchen table. Alison was sat on one side while Dantae and I sat shoulder to shoulder on the other.
"Thanks for letting me in, General Armando made you seem a lot less inviting when he was talking about you." Alison explained, taking a sip of the latte I had prepared for her. I waited for her to get to the point of her visit, but Dantae was far less patient.
"I see you've learned your diplomacy skills from Armando. Enough small talk, we aren't interested in what you think of us." Dantae was fully confrontational, staring the raven-haired Huntress in the eyes. Alison frowned however, but her face suddenly lit up.
"You wouldn't happen to be the person that was hiding behind Leo's back at the meeting, were you? I was wondering if you were just his plaything when I walked in here, but it seems I had the wrong idea." Dantae had scoffed at her, once again putting on a mask in front of others, but I don't think Alison realized how close to the mark she'd hit.
"That was a momentary weakness," Dantae waved off Alison's suspicion, "it won't happen again anytime soon. Have you experienced photon buildup yet?" Alison looked at her questioningly, a perfect answer to Dantae's own question.
"Okay, so whenever you absorb black hole radiation-" I cut her off to get back on topic.
"Anyway, why are you here again? It can't be coincidence that you show up at our doorstep the day after you meet us." She looked up, probably thinking about her response, then bowed at me.
"Become my master!"
---
I stared at Alison, and time seemed to slow down for me so I could process all this information. I could still feel eyes on us, so we were still being watched by either a third party or Alison's backup.
Firstly, why would she say those words? To be honest it was probably the influence of one General Christian Armando, perpetrator of most of the women I meet.
Secondly, why would he send her here? The answer was probably because she asked him about the intricacies of controlling the photons in her body, which he has no experience in. As a result, he sent her to the most experienced person he knows: me.
And thirdly, was she really worth my time. On one hand, it would consume a lot of my time and attention, causing me to lose time in other things I wanted to pursue. Another thing to consider was Dantae's jealousy. She was more possessive than a pirate who had collected disgusting amounts of gold.
On the other hand, training another person closer to my capabilities means we would split the work involving Temptations, or better yet she would take the job from me outright.
Time was returning to normal as I mulled it over.Alison straightened back out and I could see the tension that began to spread on her face, and the creases that formed as her lips curved downward in slight worry. I breathed in the familiar smell of my kitchen, a long, deep breath. The smell of distinct spices and egg were a reminder of my normal life, and one I would like to keep.
Finally, time returned to normal and I looked into Alison's eyes. She truly was beautiful, her dark grey eyes a welcome contrast to her lighter skin tone. Her long dark hair looked shiny and well kept, she really must take care of her public image a lot.
In fact, that was perfect. She'd be someone who would clean up her own mess in order to keep up appearances, unlike myself who never had those thoughts instilled in him from the beginning.
"Leo, can you hear me?" A voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and without realizing it I had drawn closer to Alison, so close that we could almost kiss...
---
Leo was sat across from Alison, stunned after what she had asked him. It was understandable, she had just asked something huge of him. After his display of disregarding nature and tearing a hole in space during the meeting, she couldn't simply let the knowledge of the first Hunter, the progenitor, go to waste now could she?
As he was mulling it over, she took note of his features. One thing Alison had failed to notice before, as she was looking at him from the side, were his sea-green eyes. They beautifully contrasted with his skin, which was even paler than hers. However, from what she had read up on Project Doppelgänger, that was probably due to years of being kept underground with a lack of sunlight rather than genetics.
Alison then diverted her vision and glanced at Leo’s partner from the side, a girl who had no trace of the jumbled ball of nerves she had yesterday. She then glanced back at Leo. From all standpoints, this man was handsome, and ruggedly so. Alison could see why his Tracker didn't have any problem entrusting her needs to him. She glanced back at his partner this time and really looked at her.
She was beautiful as well, in her own way. When sat next to him, she was a little shorter, maybe by three inches, but with their body language, Leo’s tracker leaning into his body and entrusting herself to him, Alison could tell that they were practically made for each other. "So how did you meet your Tracker? Leo? Leo, can you hear me?"
When she returned her eyes to Leo, he was startlingly close, his lips only centimeters from Alison’s and the breath from his nose tickled her own.