Mission: NYX || ONC2023 Shortlister

Chapter 3: Two Choices at Crossroads

Lucinda wasn't sure what was more difficult: trying to write down notes on her tablet while both of her shoulders burned even with the slightest movements, or trying to focus on her supervisor speaking in front of her. Her pen had been tapping on her tablet's screen ever since the meeting started. It was difficult to write a single word when his voice sounded like gibberish if she would look away for even one second.

She yawned before taking a long sip from her hot chocolate. It wasn't her first time coming to the Investigation Squad the next morning when she finished a mission from the SCD the night before, and she doubted it would be her last. For the past five years of her working in the Department of Unnatural Occurrences, that was how she juggled being an assassin and a detective.

But unfortunately, it was the end of the month meeting today. So even if she was able to come home earlier than usual last night—which was still late—she also had to wake up earlier than usual so she and Greyson could come to work at seven rather than eight.

She placed one hand on her face and brushed her hair away. Five hours of sleep. Not that it was bad, but her shoulder begged to differ.

At least the canteen was already open when she and Greyson arrived. She was able to buy breakfast for them both and eat while the meeting started.

Speaking of which... Her gaze turned to Greyson, sitting on the chair in front of her desk. Like everyone in the room, his attention was turned to their boss standing in front of the office computer. His pointy ears perked up and down a few times, and tiny yawns left his mouth every now and then. He didn't look tired. If anything, it was like he was bored. Instead of taking notes, he was scribbling drawings on his digital notebook.

Almost, a chuckle left her. She rested her chin on his palm and grabbed a lock of his black hair, tickling his ear. Greyson's ears perked up again. He slightly tilted his head before turning around to face her.

"Pay attention," she whispered. "Sir Viktor's talking about something important."

His pointy ears flattened. "Meetings are boring."

"I know they are." Lucinda sighed. She pulled her plate closer to her and grabbed a spoonful of rice and adobo. "But they're important. Besides, these only happen once a month. You won't be joining a lot of meetings unless you're in a high position like Sir Viktor or the CEO."

If it was possible, his ears flopped down even more. But he didn't say another word.

Hopefully, he was thinking about the times she warned him about the less exciting sides of work like the meetings, staring at a screen for eight hours a day with almost no breaks, and listening to people from other branches of the company bringing their issues to the IS. But when she told him about those, he seemed to be more excited at the fact that the two of them would be working together and spending more time with each other.

So while Greyson kept switching between writing down important things and drawing Viktor with his best attempts, she placed her gloved hand on his head and started scratching it. His ears flipped up and down, but he made no other move apart from grabbing a spoonful of rice and curry.

It was a while before Viktor finally finished. As soon as he was done, he turned to the computer and typed a few things. The large, holographic screen shifted back to the calendar, but this time with his additional notes in them.

"Alright, that's everything. Does anyone have questions? No? Good. Let's get back to work. The Intelligence Database needs the reports finalized, and I'd rather shove my face in the trash than ask Simeon for an extension."

One of Lucinda's coworkers, Azul, sat straighter on his chair. "Actually, I have a question."

Unsurprisingly, Viktor didn't respond. Instead, he sat back on his chair, only stopping to pat his pet dragon sleeping on his desk, before grabbing a mirror to check his face. Again.