FRIENDLY REMINDER:
Oddity (Noun): Magic or power possessed by 0.5% of the world's human population, making them rare and extremely valuable. (They work similarly to quirks in BNHA). The world knows about them (it's not a secret) so society functions around them as well as normal humans
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POV: Nerovsky
I was sitting in conference room 4 with a finished Pad Thai plate in front of me and my soon-to-be-ex-boss laughing his ass off next to me. Like he was full-on hysteric and completely losing his shit. I had just finished explaining the reason for my whack behaviour and oh boy. He really did try to hold it back but he just couldn't and completely lost it halfway through. It'd been 7 minutes and he was still losing it. I'd just been sitting here for 7 minutes, finishing off my Pad Thai – which was delivered by one of the staff members after a request from Matthew – in complete silence. I'm glad there are now two people who enjoying my sufferings. Speaking of which...
"Hey, Matthew. While you completely lost your sh- mind over what I told you WHICH ISN'T FUNNY, I'm just going to call someone. Just don't think I usually talk to people like the way I'm going to talk to this bas- friend."
Matthew – still wheezing – continued laughing. IT'S NOT THAT FUNNY. With that thought in mind, I called Assden and after the second ring, I heard the click of the call being picked up. As soon as the fucktard greeted, "NERO! How's work?" I said what I needed to say
"You know Aiden... I know where you live..."
"... yes you do Nero..."
"I also know everything about you..."
"Unfortunately that is the case. Where are you going with this?"
"Since I am the only nice friend in this relationship-"
"HEY! I'm ni-"
"I'm going to be warning you ahead of time that you are dead to me and soon, you're going to be dead to this world. When and how I'm going to murder you will not be information you will get. It could be when you're asleep. It could be when you're awake."
"Ah, now I see where this is going. I take it you remember the details of last night and who you picked a fight with. You get the reason for my reaction last night then. Also for the record, I just told you to get one drink, not talk to some not-stranger stranger. I also didn't tell you to get hammered. So none of this is my fault. In fact, I'm a great friend for pulling you out early."
I ignored his comment completely and proceeded to tell him how I'm going to torture him before I killed him in the most gruesome and terrifying way possible (A/N use your imagination on the different torture devices and methods he will use. If I did it, it would not be a PG friendly story). By the time I finished, Matthew had stopped laughing and he looks scared shitless. His eyes were dilated and his skin paled a bit. I gave him a small smirk and waited patiently for the response on the other end of the phone.
"... I- I- I'M SORRY MAN. FORGIVE ME. DON'T KILL ME. I just thought it'd be funny if I didn't tell you who it was and you proceeded work under him without knowing you roasted the damn guy. I had no clue you were going to actually remember. You usually don't remember unless the same object reappears in front of you and you're working well under him so I thought you guys would never meet face-to-face."
"All the new employees had to meet him and introduce themselves."
"... oh. WELL HOW WAS I MEANT TO KNOW THAT? I WOULD'VE TOLD YOU IF I KNEW!"
"You're an asshole who deserves disappear from my world. I expect the spare keys to my apartment in my mailbox by the time I get home."
"Wait Nero you're not ser-"
I pressed the end button before he could finish the call and relaxed back in my chair. I turned my phone on do not disturb and looked up at the ceiling in a daze. I could see Matthew squirm uncomfortably in my peripherals but resumed to ask,
"I'm assuming that's your best friend who dragged you out of the bar last night?"
"Yup."
"... You're not like actually mad with him to the point of cutting him off are you? He didn't exactly make you kill someone or cheat on your loved one" He nearly made me kill someone.
I responded with a sigh, five seconds of silence and then simply said,
"No. No, I'm not. I will probably never actually hate the guy. I just wanted to scare the guys because he did majorly piss me off, especially because he's my best friend. He knows what my character and personality is like so he should've taken to account what would happen if I ended up meeting Mr. Covell. Plus, the damn guy gave me a hangover before my first day at work." And my last.
Matthew just hummed in acknowledgement and we bathe in a comfortable silence once again... before I broke it again two minutes later.
"So... am I fired? Because I've mentally prepared myself for it now so you can hit me with the one-liner."
This startled Matthew quite a bit and he looked at me with a quizzical face.
"Why would you be fired? We haven't even started work yet."
I quirked my left eyebrows up and gave him an are-you-kidding-me look.
"If you weren't paying attention for the last 15 minutes, I had called my colourful names yesterday and roasted the shit out of him as well as be intentionally condescending towards him during my introduction because my pride is apparently more important than my life. Why on earth wouldn't I be fired."
My soon-to-be-ex-(?) manager returned a hearty laugh.
"Oh, I highly doubt you offended him yesterday. Most likely entertained him and caught him off guard. Today on the other hand, yes you did piss him off because he is also very prideful and hates being looked down upon but even then, he still amused the entire time. Meaning he likes you. Which also means you are not fired."
I eyeballed my not-ex manager, initially in confusion but soon in delight.
"Oh. Well, I'm glad in that case. Seems like I hyped myself up for nothing. Although... I didn't exactly pay attention to anything that was said today because I thought I wouldn't need it. Was there anything important said?"
"Nah. You're all good. Just the usual protocol stuff that can be read in your own time. Anyway, I need to prepare some things for the tour and since you're not exactly doing anything right now... you want to help?"
I gave him a smile and shrug.
"Sure why not?"
♤♧♡♢
As I walked down to my apartment (car is in repairs) with 'Love me harder' by Woodz played on full blast in my wireless earbuds, I reflected on the hectic day I've experienced. Getting to MegCorp was dandy but it was once getting there where it was just a mess. Obviously that mess never really got sorted since boss sir and I had not talked about whatever happened last night but at least it kind of passed through as the day went. Matthew gave us a tour of the building but that in itself was all over the place. The idiot didn't know he was meant to ask the floors whether we could visit, even though he'd been taking care of new employees for 4 years now. It was still funny though seeing him being scolded everywhere. Definitely the highlight of my day. Oh yeah that Leah chick kept glaring at me and muttering curses directed at me for some reason throughout the tour. Like, I didn't even know the chick. Why was she frustrated with me?
I let out a tired exhale and noticed my apartment building come into sight. Meaning I was back in my semi-dodgy neighbourhood. I entered the building and took three flights of stairs (elevator was still out of commission). When I reached the third floor and walked down the corridor to my place, I saw someone sitting in front of my door, head down. Wait who's that? I don't have any friends except for like Aiden and- oh right Aiden. I forgot I completely went off at him and shut him down. As I was about 4 metres away from my door, Aiden finally noticed my presence and scrambled up the door and quietly stood in front of me, his head down. Even his blue hair was drooping. I quietly studied him; he clearly had come straight from work since he still had his work bag, meaning he'd been here for at least two hours. His light blue hair was looking even lighter under the downlight in front of my door, giving him a holy aura. More importantly, he had his hands in front, fidgeting. I could see nervousness written all over his expression, his blue eyes quivering through his hair, looking ready to cry any minute (which is quite rare for him. I feel bad now. Did I scare him that much? This lack of faith in our friendship hurts).
He still didn't say anything and frankly, I was really tired after today and I just wanted to go in, take a nice, hot bath, eat and then go to sleep to deal with tomorrow. So I broke the eerie stillness.
"Well? You gonna say anything or stand there? I'm kind of too tired to just stand around in silence."
My best friend opened to say something then closed it again and then opened it again... only to close it again. I crossed my arms and look at him with a semi-enthralled look.
"You look like a fish."
A weird gurgling sound came out of his mouth and then he proceeded to stammer and fluster his arms around everywhere as if to show whether he was allowed to laugh or insult me or say anything at all. Now he looks like an octopus. He finally calmed down and gazed at me with determination.
"You ignored all my calls."
"That I did."
Hesitation. "I left you like 20 missed calls."
"Yes, yes you did."
Pause. "I'm not giving your key back."
"Oh? Is that what you came here to tell me?"
Immediate response. "NO... no... I came to say sorry. I'm really sorry. So you won't be needing your spare key."
"Is that so... do you know what you're sorry for?"
Vigorous head nodding. "For dragging you to the fancy bar in the first place, telling you to get another drink and more importantly, refusing to tell you that the one you picked a fight with was your future boss."
"And you do understand today was kind of a mental mess on my part, right? I was embarrassed out of my mind and nearly got myself fired? You also know I get extremely nervous in social situations as it is."
Puzzlement. "Wait you nearly got fired? Not the point. Yes, I understand I nearly fucked up your future before it even began."
I returned a small nod. "Great. Glad we got that out of the way. Now can you move away from my door so I can unlock the door, enter and let this day pass?"
Aiden slowly moved away from the door, hesitation and worry clearly being expressed on every part of his body. As I'm about to enter, he quietly let out, "are you still mad at me? Am I forgiven?"
I looked back at him with a blank look which then turned into a small smile. "Get in here you snake."
Aiden beamed like the sun and practically jumped on me, pushing us further into the quaint apartment, into the living room area. If it wasn't for my amazing quads, I probably would've been sporting a cracked skull. "Yeah, yeah get off me you numbskull. I'm tired and want to sleep."
Aiden got off me and immediately retorted, "I'm sleeping over. I've been through hell and back. I need comforting from the one who caused the hell."
I glared at him. "Did you not hear me? I'm tired. I legit cannot do anything or deal with anything, including your energy. I'm skipping dinner for god sake."
My best friend pouted, crossed his arm and advanced towards my bedroom. "I don't care. I'm drained as well from worrying and creating every worst-case scenario in my head."
I entered my bedroom after him and shrugged off my blazer and loosened my tie. "You deserve it."
Aiden pouted even harder. How are your lips not permanently flipped the other way? "Shut up."
"I see you're already back to your normal self."
Aiden retaliated by sticking his tongue out like a child and ignored the comment. "There's another reason I'm here as well. It's got to do with our other job."
"Oh? Do continue then." At that point, I've completely stripped out of my work attire and was wearing my sleeping shorts. I went over to the bed (where Aiden is already sitting on the left side of the queen-sized bed) and laid down on the right side. I gave up on showering for tonight due to the unexpected company and because I was lazy. I'll just shower before going to work.
"Two new things basically. Well, one has got to do with an old case so I'll start with that. We nearly got caught the other day."
That got me up and leaning on my right elbow and looking at him with concern. "What do you mean we nearly got caught? Did I leave a trail or something?"
Aiden shook his head in disagreement. "Nothing of sort. It was my fault really. For underestimating our opponent. It was the Borris case from 6 months ago. You know how I, your trusty, nerdy, friendly, geeky, techno genius, social-"
"Get to the point Assden"
"Right well, I, your sidekick till this day have never failed to clear our tracks as well as getting our prey convicted. You know, clearing security camera recordings, sometimes wirelessly disarming alarms, covering stuff up with different cover stories, as well as gathering all the hard evidence, testim-"
"Aiden..." I growled in impatience.
"I'M GETTING THERE. Anyway, initially I was very thorough and did it in the most complex way which was time-consuming. Soon I realized, our targets were dumb enough to ever reach a level where they can crack anything I do. So you could say eventually I got a bit lazy. Obviously, if I think our target is dangerous and whatnot, I take precautions but my judgments this time was wrong."
I looked at him patiently, not giving way to any sort of emotion and he plowed through his story.
"What I'm trying to say is after we finished what we needed to and I covered our tracks, MegCorp did not sit back. They fought back and tried to recover the security footage from that night. And they nearly did. I mean what did you expect from an app development company but yeah they got some pretty smart people and they nearly recovered it. Luckily, I'm greater than them and fixed it all up but boy was that a scare. I usually wouldn't be so worked up on them getting the footage, considering you were disguised and all. But..."
"Yes...?"
"Two key things could be seen in a couple of the clips. One, your tattoo seal thing on your neck and second, you slipped up at one point and a bit of the wig disintegrated when your Oddity took over the left side of your body. A bit of your hair could be seen. It wasn't obvious but it could be seen in the footage and I couldn't take the risk. I can't say whether your boss noticed it or not but be glad that black is a common colour in this world."
Once he finished, I slipped into a contemplative silence before I broke it in a calm tone shortly after. "I'm not gonna blame you here. You did your job pretty fucking well. They're just good like that. Just take it as a warning to be more careful next time. I'll also take it as a warning for my power... Jesus fucking christ, I work for one hell of a company. It's a very risky move on my part."
"You lied about your magic right? I still can't believe you decided to work under him. You almost make sure to never come in contact with any of the target's acquaintances."
"Yeah. Said it was shadow manipulation since it's the closest to what I have. And he can't exactly tell it's me. I'm a just your average joe who just wanted a decent paying job and he was providing said job. Like hell I'm missing that opportunity. Anyway, what's the second thing you needed to tell me?" I leaned back down to lay facing Aiden and he did the same. As the exhaustion from today settled in our muscles, both of us yawned at the same time, indicating it's about time to be knocked out.
"Oh right. I have another target we can go for. I have all the evidence to get him guilty so all we need to do is confront him."
"hmmm rank the urgency for me from 1 to 10."
"Around a 5"
I yawned once more and closed my eyes. "In that case, just anonymously release all the evidence and expose him. I'm not going to confront him since he doesn't seem worth the confronting. The tabloids losing it against him should be enough. Plus... I just started work so I might just adjust first before taking on another case. Anyway, I'm crashing now. Night."
I heard a "Yes sir" following a tiny chuckle as sleep took over.