Sheaf started walking in front of them. To any ordinary person's eyes, it would seem as if he was walking just fine, in fact, even Hacker took her first step thinking everything was normal. But X wasn't fooled so easily. He strode forward quickly and stood in front of Sheaf.
Sheaf jerked his head back and stopped walking. X checked him through to make sure his suspicion was right.
Yes, he was. Sheaf was leaning ever so slightly to his left, putting more weight on his left leg to stand and walk. It was this tiny limp that caught X's attention. That, and his weird behaviour.
'So,' X started in a mock polite tone. 'May I know what's wrong with your leg?'
'M.. mm.. my leg? What's wrong with my leg? Nothing's wrong with it.' Even as he said that he stumbled slightly. In a flash X was beside Sheaf, one arm around his waist to support him. Sheaf groaned as Hacker came to take X's place in front of them with her arms folded.
'Explanation. Now.'
Sheaf gulped. There was no way out of this and he knew it. He'd hoped that they wouldn't notice, but when do things even go his way. He then took one look at X, to make sure he had no other option, then began his surprise story.
'So, you guys know how I went to save that asset guy, right? Well, when I was exploring his house, I tripped on something I didn't see on the floor and hit my right leg's thigh on a broken table,' Both X and Hacker winced. 'No, no, nothing went in, thankfully, but I got a nasty cut. Had to get a few stitches as well. And it's sorta hurting, though I'm trying my best to make sure it doesn't show.'
X sighed beside him. Sheaf gave an embarrassed smile and rubbed the back of his neck. 'It's not the most glorious way to get hurt. I mean, tripping and injuring my leg on a table doesn't sound nearly as interesting as getting shot or stabbed there. And, of course, I didn't want you guys to worry and get distracted. I'm completely fine, you see?'
X shook his head and raised his eyebrows. 'Are you sure you're ok?' Poor Sheaf missed the sarcasm in his voice and took it to mean that X was getting convinced he was fine. So he gave a bright smile and nodded enthusiastically.
Suddenly, without warning, X left Sheaf and took a step away from him. A surprised Sheaf yelped and stumbled and would have fallen if X hadn't caught him again. 'Still convinced you're completely alright?' X asked with the smallest of smirks. Sheaf pouted at having his cover blown.
'It was unexpected. If you had told me in advance...' he mumbled. X laughed in response.
'So, as you would have probably guessed, there is absolutely no way I'll allow you to go to your home in this condition. You'll have to come over to my place tonight. At least until you feel better. You don't even have anyone at your place to look after you.'
He declared. Sheaf looked at him with wide eyes. X knew why he did that. The first and only time Sheaf had come over was when he was shot and was losing a lot of blood after an encounter.
X's house had been the closest place then, and Sheaf would probably not be standing here if it wasn't for X's quick decision making. But he knew that once X wanted something, he was a stubborn mule to the core. He would ensure that things went his way, especially if it was in his control.
So Sheaf only sighed slightly in defeat and nodded his head. X grinned and placed a step forward, still supporting Sheaf. He got the message and took a step of his own. Then they started walking together, their feet in sync to avoid tripping and falling. Hacker stepped aside to let them walk first, then walked out behind them.
They took the public transport again, because of course Sheaf couldn't walk that much, even with support.
It so happened that X was sitting with Sheaf when a small girl waddled over to X. Both of them immediately turned their attention to the girl. X in particular looked pleasantly surprised. The girl smiled shyly and pulled out a flower from one of her jacket pockets.
As shy as the adorable girl seemed, X seemed just as much or even twice as shy as he blinked cutely and started at the girl, not knowing what to do. He genuinely seemed lost at the unexpected gift, so Sheaf gave him a hard nudge with his elbow.
That seemed to bring X back to his senses. His face slowly spread into a genuine smile and he accepted the flower with a soft thank you. The girl laughed back. Just then, her stop must have come because two adults were beckoning and calling her.
She ran to them, her two pigtails swinging childishly. She caught her parents' arms and turned to leave. When they reached the door, though, she looked back and waved brightly at X. His eyes widened, but he smiled and waved back at her bashfully.
Sheaf stared at X. He was deliberately looking everywhere but at Sheaf, so Sheaf decided to let it go and not embarrass the guy further.
The rest of the journey passed in a peaceful silence till they reached home. X helped Sheaf once again. He felt slightly bad because he knew Sheaf was embarrassed to have to depend on X like this, but there was no way X was going to leave him like this.
Huffing and puffing, they entered the dark house. X switched on the lights and carefully seated Sheaf on the sofa.
'I'll go and make dinner. You can sit here and call me if you need anything.' X said gently, then left Sheaf to his own devices. He didn't exactly have anything to do, but it was kind of awkward to just sit there, so he pulled out his phone and started fiddling around with it until dinnertime.
X set the steaming food on the coffee table and sat down in an opposite chair. Sheaf gratefully picked it up and started eating. It was just as well that X insisted he come home. If he had gone to his own home, he would probably have eaten either leftover or frozen and microwaved food. Sad, but true.
In between bites, X inquired about Sheaf's leg and his overall wellbeing. Sheaf couldn't be more grateful for a friend like X. The guy might seem tough on the outside, but he was actually a big softie.
'You can sleep on my bed. I'll take the couch.' X offered, putting down his now empty plate. Sheaf put his down as well with a frown.
'Come on man. You've got to be kidding me. You offered to take me home, helped me a lot throughout the journey, and gave me hot and homecooked food. I... it's more than what I could've ever hoped for. But I can't possibly take your bed as well.'
X laughed. 'Relax, Sheaf. You don't have to be so melodramatic. I'm not asking you to move in and capture my bedroom. It's just for today. And besides, I have lots of preparations to make. I'll just disturb you too much by bustling around.'
The moral tug of war went on in a playful note until Sheaf, feeling drained, finally agreed to take X's room for the night. X helped him again, and Sheaf was too happy to have someone take care of him this much to protest.
They slowly walked over to the bedroom and X switched on the lights again. Sheaf looked around with an appreciative eye. X was into minimalistic furniture, but he had quite a good sense of theme and style.
Sheaf's roaming eyes landed on a framed picture hanging right above the bed. He tried not to stare for too long, but X caught him looking. So Sheaf decided that if the topic was not addressed now, it was bound to create tension in the amiable atmosphere.
He cleared his throat and said softly. 'That's your wife, isn't it?' He didn't need to look at X to gauge his mood. He felt the guy stiffen slightly before nodding.
'Yeah. Yeah, that's her. My wife.' He said wistfully.
Sheaf had seen this picture the last time he'd been here. But he'd been in a painful daze at that time. X had carried him and lain him on the bed and had gotten around to fixing his wounds. In an attempt to distract himself from the pain, Sheaf had looked around the room for anything interesting.
His eyes had landed on the painting of a woman. A beautiful woman, actually, with long flowing hair, striking eyes and a pretty smile. More than that, though, Sheaf had been shocked at seeing a woman's painting in X's house.
In all the time he'd known X, he'd never thought of him as someone in any relationship. The guy was way too introverted and stoic for that. But who was he to judge, Sheaf had reasoned and mustered the courage to ask X about her.
'Hey man,' Sheaf had wheezed, 'You didn't tell me you had any woman in your life?' He'd pointed at the picture before continuing. 'Who's she? Your girlfriend? Or your sister or something?'
X had stiffened and taken a deep breath before answering. 'My wife.' Sheaf, even in his pain, had been stunned. Was this guy really married? How come no one knew about it?
Even though they had a very professional environment, that didn't prevent everyone from making friends and getting to know each other. But Sheaf was willing to bet that apart from him now, nobody knew that the mysterious X had a wife.
Sheaf asked the pressing question in his mind then. 'Where is she now? Can I meet her? On that note, how come I've never met her?' He'd meant to be teasing, but not knowing the situation, he'd said the wrong thing.
'She's dead.' X had replied bluntly. That's it. Not mincing his words, no beating around the bush. Sheaf had opened his mouth to reply, to say anything, but the pain pulled him under and he had blacked out.
Now, even when he was conscious enough to form a coherent thought, he could only nod in response. X didn't seem to want anything else from him, fortunately. He just walked him over to the bed and tucked him in. If it was any other situation or person, Sheaf would have been embarrassed to be tucked in, but this time he didn't mind.
It was so nice to have someone caring for him, as his mother, used to, without being asked or directed.
Sheaf sighed. He seriously missed them. Ever since he ran away from home because they wanted him to stay there, he missed them bad. But he knew he wasn't going back. At least until they accepted what he did. Not until they stopped asking him to come back and join work as a farm labourer, like his dad and brother. He sighed and shook his head. No more thoughts of family.
X pulled the cover over Sheaf, asked if he was comfortable, and then padded softly over the tiled floor. He quietly closed the door with a soft smile.
After feeding the stray cat again, he cracked his knuckles in anticipation of the packing he had to do.
Right. First things first. He went and grabbed a backpack from the drawing-room. It was a nice deep blue color and went along well with his ascetics. Then he went to his workroom and began sifting through the things, muttering to himself. His coat was outfitted to the fullest capacity with all the necessary gadgets.
He also took a backup phone, in case anything happened to the first one. A nifty device he'd created to help with the heavy load he would have to carry tomorrow, a lollipop to soothe the probably scared child, the strongest gas masks he had, in case the poison leaked by accident, the list went too long.
He took the weight of everything he was carrying into account. Twenty kilos, while not the heaviest he'd carried, was pretty heavy and he didn't want his limbs failing him in the middle due to his unnecessary packing.
There would be no sneaking in the traditional sense, so all the climbing gear would be out of the picture. That included grappling hooks, ropes, etc. On and on went his planning until he was so exhausted, that his eyes began hurting just from the effort of staying awake.
He ambled over to his couch, pulled a blanket and slept off peacefully.
'Morning!' A voice called out to him from the depths of his groggy sleep. He shook it off at first like an annoying mosquito and continued sleeping. Then he felt someone shake his shoulder roughly and he angrily swatted at it. No one disturbs his sleep except his alarm clock.
Wait. Someone was disturbing his sleep. Who could it be, when he had no one in his home? No one except....
X's eyes flew open to reveal a grinning Sheaf hovering over him. He bolted upright, almost knocking Sheaf out in the process. If Sheaf wasn't so fast himself, they would have clashed quite badly.
'Whoa there! Looks like someone is a grumpy napper. I just wanted to wake you up for warm breakfast.' He smiled, holding up two plates. X's disoriented mind sifted through these facts one by one, like a clanky computer struggling to work. Wait. What was Sheaf doing here?
He wouldn't be here until X invited him, and X wouldn't invite him until it was a very serious discussion.... or a grave injury.
His dark eyes cut down to Sheaf's leg and he narrowed his eyes. Sheaf followed the movement and he gulped discerningly, then attempted a brave smile. Poor guy. If it wasn't for the circumstances, X would have felt sorry for him. But that wasn't happening anytime soon.
'Sheaf. What's the meaning of this? Haven't I made it clear enough that I brought you here just so that you can take a rest and I can help you out with daily tasks? Why have you then gone and prepared breakfast, that too by yourself, from scratch?' X's voice was low, and that made it even scarier.
Sheaf took a deep breath, then sighed and sat down, setting the food down carefully. 'Look, X. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. Like, you really have no idea. I haven't been this well taken care of since my mother was around.
But that's the thing. I've been taking care of myself for so long, ever since I ran away, that I've forgotten what it's like to be cared for. Honestly, it makes me uncomfortable and guilty, like it's adding on to your already heavy load. I didn't want to be a burden, so I tried to help you out.'
X shook his head. 'How can I ever be mad at you, Sheaf? You're too sweet and caring for that.' His voice softened. 'Since you already took the effort of cooking, I won't deny it now and break your heart. But no more antics like this, especially when I forbade it, got it?'
Sheaf nodded enthusiastically like a puppy, and X had to laugh. He grabbed a plate and started eating, his eyes widening at how good the food actually was. Sheaf's chest swelled with pride, and he started eating his food as well.
After food, they went through the plans once again, then X grabbed all the supplies he packed, threw a supporting arm around Sheaf, and set out to HQ.
When they hobbled in together, as usual, Hacker was sitting in front of her screen, her back towards them. When she heard them coming, she turned around, jumped up and ran towards them. 'How are you doing now?' She asked breathlessly.
Sheaf smiled and turned and twisted his leg around slightly. 'Much better now. In fact, I'm almost completely fine, thanks to our good old friend here.'
X rubbed the back of his neck and gave a small smile. Hacker noticed the backpack he'd slung over his shoulder. 'Is that your equipment for the job?' She asked excitedly like he had come home with a bag of goodies for her.
'Yeah, it is. Want to see it?'
She nodded. He opened the bag and took everything out one by one, explaining each gadget's use and how it fits in with the plan. Both of them lapped up the information, pointing out and clarifying things in between.
Hacker glanced at her watch finally and stood up. 'It's about time. We need to eat lunch and get ready for our roles now.' Both of them nodded, too nervous for words, now that it was really happening.
X brought food for all of them and they ate quietly through their nerves, each going through the plan vigorously. After lunch, they roamed around the room aimlessly, whiling away the time till it was mission time. Three o'clock. Time for X to go and Hacker and Sheaf to position themselves as his behind the scenes help.
X slung his pack over his shoulder and walked to the door, pausing at the entry and turning around to give a small smile and all the best. Both of them repeated his words with a small wave of the hand. He nodded, closed the door and started walking towards the coffee shop.
We're at a very important point right now. The mission our team planned so hard for is finally going to be implemented. Will it succeed or fail? Will there be any casualties?
Whatever the result, you would hopefully remember to implement your love for this story by clicking on that little star button over there!