( XXVII )

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YOU PINCHED AT your hero costume painstakingly, over and over again. It was just the Hero Public Safety Commission headquarters, it wasn't like you needed to show off to anybody, but it was better to make a good impression. The Commission had the power to terminate your mission or hand it off to another pro hero at a moment's notice, two things you really didn't want. It was best to look put together, at the very least.

In the elevator, you smoothed the grey fur on your tail and ears quickly before you walked through the building. Looking around, you couldn't help thinking there was something depressing about the place. Sure, it seemed modern and there were cute fake plants for decoration. The natural light coming in through the windows was a nice touch, but the walls were drab and the slight echo of your quiet footsteps on the hard floor was uncomfortable.

You looked down at your phone, double-checking that you were on the right floor and in front of the right office door. As you read the email over again, particularly the part that read: "Please wait to be called in," you lifted your head at the faint smell of sweet ocean breeze pheromones invading the dry air.

"Y/n?"

His voice was gentle and unsure. You turned around, meeting his golden honey gaze. "Hawks," you said his hero name pointedly.

"Right! Nine, sorry," he smiled, lifting his wings subtly and littering a couple of soft red feathers. "I don't usually slip up like that."

"I'm sure you don't, Mr. Leaderboard," you rolled your eyes subtly.

He laughed, "Let's say I'm good ninety-eight percent of the time," before stepping closer. His sharp avian eyes glanced around at his surroundings quickly but he maintained composure. As soon as you noticed him on edge, you instinctively started doing the same with your ears swiveling and fur standing on end.

"What brings you here?" he asked suddenly, a friendly smile on his lips.

"I have a meeting in a few minutes."

He tilted his head to the side, eyes widened as though he was worried. "What happened?"

"Nothing? I'm getting my mission finalized," you said then scoffed, "Eraser was right. You do have issues minding your own business."

His feathers ruffled at the mention of Eraser, but he shook his head. "This is different, I—" he got out but his serious expression changed abruptly, abandoning the previous sentence entirely. "'Handsome and funny' for that guy is a major stretch, by the way," he joked halfheartedly.

Your eyebrows tensed in confusion and irritation, claws balled into a fist. Just as you parted your lips to say something, and with that ask why he was acting so strangely, he whistled a fast note and jerked his head up to signal something.

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐓 | 𝐬. 𝐚𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐰𝐚Where stories live. Discover now