One x One The Alliance - (Closed. Private)

[Sagitarius]

@Sagitarius, please edit this post to include any OOC information.

 

[Hoki]

That tag is the greatest thing I have ever seen

 

[Hoki]

Spoiler

With a heavy sigh, Soren let his body flop down on the couch—The man was unbelievably tired. He had just arrived from a rather simple yet complicated mission which consisted of him patrolling the streets of Stockholm for almost twelve hours straight. You know how tiring it was to be out on the alert at all times, not able to take a break? Yes, it was important to always keep on the lookout for any strange activity but, this was just ridiculous. They were clearly understaffed, why couldn’t the alliance send some Gypsy Wagon members over here to help out? He heard there were quite a few of them.


He sighed, again, when he let his head rest against the soft cushion. Laying down after that felt great and he took his blue hat off to place it over his face, allowing his white ears to stretch for a second then droop back down. The couch that he was currently using was the one in the living room, the public place where anybody could come in and relax. It had been the first comfortable place that his blue eyes locked on, and now here he was. Besides, he was still on duty…Believe it or not. So Soren had to keep himself available for any other mission or problem that could come up for the next two hours.


GROOOOOOooooowwl….


Ah, That’s right, he was bloody hungry too. Hungry, tired, thirsty…But he just couldn’t get up. One of his arms dangled from the edge in exhaustion, and Soren almost fell asleep as his eyes closed. Actually, he wondered where everybody was….It was kind of quiet. Perhaps out on missions? Oh…who cares…At least he could enjoy some peaceful minutes of silence.


~~


The floorboards creaked faintly, the lightest of steps pressing against it. From over the edge of the couch poked a head of messy black hair and sparkling amber eyes. Cyrus leaned against the edge of the couch, arms folded across the top. He was smiling at the older male, head tilted slightly.


Naturally, he was awake - sleeping was a bit difficult for him, as crappy as that was on his behalf - but there was very little exhaustion on his smooth features. There was a reason he was there, bothering Soren; "Your stomach summoned me," the raven explained, reaching a hand to boop him atop his nose mostly because he could. "Want me to make you something?" Cyrus offered once he retracted his hand.


It was sort of a miracle that he could cook; people were always so busy, and never really had the time to take care of themselves. So, as one would assume, it was Mama Cy to the rescue with an entrée of cheese bits.


Because he ironically loved cheese and everyone needed their dairy and calcium.


Yeah. Justifications.


~~


One of his eyes opened when a certain voice of a curious mouse spoke up, snapping the male out from the process of him falling asleep. Normally, Soren would groan and turn the other way, but his muscles were aching so bad, that he didn't bother moving his head to the side when the other poked him on the nose. Soren was quite picky in who got to touch him or not.


Though the heavens couldn't have brought him a better gift--Somebody that offered him food. Was this a miracle or what? His mouth almost watered when the mouse mentioned food, almost wanting to chuckle at his comment...almost, but a laugh would be too much to ask for his tired self. "...would you be so kind?" His voice came out as a soft whisper, his lips twitching up into a sad excuse of a smile before he closed his eyes again, "...I'm starving..."


The man hated to ask another to take care of him. But honestly, deep, deep down, Soren always enjoyed getting even a bit of attention.


~~


The other's exhaustion had deemed him a lucky man it would seem, seeing as he got to fricken poke Soren. He was proud of himself, sure, but he also felt bad.


Oh well.


Smiling brightly at him, Cyrus removed himself from the back of the couch and strolled over to the kitchen. Mama Cy had taken over; he was close to grabbing a blanket for the poor guy.


Opening the fridge, he took a look at what they had, thinking of all the things he could make. "Hm..." Tilting his head with a hum, the raven leaned back from behind the fridge door to look at Soren. "Anything you want in particular?" Cyrus asked.


~~


"...whatever you wish to give me...nothing sweet that is" he replied when he heard Cyru's voice ask him what he wanted. In reality, Soren was quite picky with his food, but right now, the man could eat anything that was thrown at him. He slowly turned to lay on his side, folding an arm below his head to use it as a pillow. It was quite uncomfortable to lay down with his back on any surface due to his tail, the most sentitive part of his body.


....Maybe he can take brief nap while Cyrus made his food.


~~


Would it be insensitive to appeal to the rabbit side? Technically there was nothing wrong with that, right? Besides, carrots were frickin great anyhow, what with the eyesight and all. And, yes, rabitness.


Humming some random song he had shoved into his head a week ago, Cyrus gathered all sorts of random ingredients - that don't require naming because just trust him - and started up a pot. Thankfully he had figured out a few different ways to make stew without taking too damn long, and within an hour (sorry Soren) the raven had a carrot stew with potatoes, carrots (obviously) and all sorts of good stuff, all soaked in a yummy broth.


Cyrus dishes it out into a bowl that rested in his palm, the spoon caught between his middle and index finger. Quickly snagging a napkin with the other hand, the mouse moved to nab a blanket from the top of a nearby chair before returned to Soren. Whether he was asleep or not at the moment wasn't too important, as with any luck the smell would wake him up in the most pleasant of ways anyhow - and there was stew leftover so yay right?


"Sleeping Beauty?" he would call with a light voice.


~~


Soren had drifted off into dream land after his conscience couldn’t hold onto him any longer. Grumbling stomach and all, the man just had a strong need to get some shut eye—You could say that is what he yearned for the most. Nobody was around the living room except for him, and the fake fireplace that was always on made some relaxing crackling sounds, lulling the man deeper into his slumber and even creating a warming and cozy feeling in the room. His sleep was so deep, that even a dream formed in his head…A dream where he was talking to these people that had no faces, no ears, and no mouth. They were like marionettes that sat around him. But the man somehow recognized them, even without an identity—Calling them his family. Then the marionettes started dancing, and he was no longer in that kitchen table where he and his siblings used to gather; they were all on their feet, in a certain room that had a black, smooth marble floor. Tap, tap, tap—Their feet moved in a strange rhythm that echoed and drummed on his ears loudly, making them slightly twitch in his sleep. The sound was familiar, yet bizarre…where did he know that song from? If only he could remember…





"Sleeping Beauty?"


It was the discomfort of his stomach growling that made the man’s eyes shot open. A most delicious smell had suddenly filled the air, and the man slowly propped on his elbows to see where it was coming from. Turned out, it was right in front of him. His white eyebrows furrowed as he tried to make out the blurry face, letting his eyes adjust. “……” It was that mouse…With a bowl of something that smelled like heaven in his hands. It probably looked pathetic but Soren sat up and took it from his hands, “You are great. I appreciate this, Cy” Was all he said before the eared man begun to dig in. Soren wasn’t very familiar with him yet—Cyrus was the newest member that transferred to Wonderland after all, and Soren had been busy doing missions. The man had no time to sit and have conversations with anybody and this was one of the few times he actually interacted with somebody this whole week. Sad, he knew.


He wasn’t sure if his hunger made this stew taste a hundred times better, or if it was the simple ability of a great cook—Either way, it was delicious. Soren wolfed down that plate of food as if it was the last one he was going to get in a long time, not particularly caring about looking incident in front of him. He paused for a moment though, when his stomach actually let the man finally take control of his body and speak at the individual in his presence…He felt strange eating in front of him, “…Thank you for the food—“ Soren said, although he wasn’t quite finished, “Are you going to join me?”


~~


"Oh, uh..."


Friendship, awkwardness, all of the above - the mouse straightened, the hand with the blanket tucked behind his back and the other scratching at his cheek. "I mean, if you don't mind too much.."


Yes, he knew it was weird for him to be standing there watching the male. Yes, he was aware of how awkward he was being.


But that was Cy (for the most part) - it was better if he hurried up and got to the doofy smiling garbage already. Remembering the object in his hand, Cyrus made to hold it out. "I don't think you'll be moving any time soon," he commented jokingly, "So, here--"


Remember politeness you goofy mouse.


"--and you're welcome. I'm glad you like it."





Aaaaaaand..?


"Oh, and sorry for waking you!"


Finally finished with his damned train of thought, he smiled brightly at Soren. The considerably rare encounter was, hopefully, not ruined by the spastic and moderately unorganized train wreck that was his head.


He was a mouse, what'd you expect?


~~


When Cyrus held out the blanket, Soren stared at it as if it was some kind of strange, extraterrestrial object that he didn't recognize. Maybe because of how slow his mind was working at the momen? Or maybe because he didn't see many people offering things such as food or as blankets to his person. "How kind, you even brought me a blanket" Soren chuckled after some blank seconds, reaching out for it. The man smiled and leaned his body forwards enough so he could wrap the blanket around his shoulders.


The rabbit glanced up at Cyrus, his eyes shifting in an almost unnoticeable matter as he scanned his features, as if looking for something that Soren had lost. "How are you liking wonderland? Have you gone out to your first mission yet?" He then asked, ignoring the mouse's bright smile and just simply went back to eat more of the food; Soren wasn't exactly considered a ray of sunshine.


~~


Sunshine sumshime - it was the same thing, yeah? Cyrus took a few steps/hops back, plopping down in a chair with a huff. His hands clasped together in front of him before falling into his lap; despite being able to easily reach the floor, his legs extended upward and out a few times as if they couldn't.


Tilting his head this way and that, he thought for a moment. "Wonderland is nice," the raven responded, "I really do like it. As for missions, I went on "one"."


You bet your sweet ass he used air quotations, soon leaning back in the chair.


Sighing a bit loudly he went on to say; "But it was just shopping, nothing sneaky or too fun." Glancing over, Cyrus once again tilted his head. "You just got back from a mission, right? How'd it go?"


~~


“Heh, shopping, huh?” That was amusing, it was like hearing himself talk when he just arrived—which wasn’t that long either. “I was given idiotic and pointless missions too when I first came. Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance” The man caught a figure walk inside the living room from the corner of his eyes, briefly glancing that way to see who it was. It was a man named March…Soren didn’t remember his last name. He wasn’t exactly too familiar with the people in here yet, and March was one of those who Soren never had an interest in having a conversation with.


Soren sighed; He was done with the food but he was too tired, and now satisfied, to get up and take the bowl to the kitchen. So he placed it on the small table in front of the couch and laid back down on his side as he huddled in the blanket Cy had brought him. “My mission went relatively well. I was assigned to…basically patrol Stockholm—be on the lookout for any suspicious activities. Check security cameras, keep my ears up for any trouble.” It was rather dull if you looked at it, and he was thinking of asking if he could be transferred to HQ back in New York. But Soren had just moved into wonderland…It would be rather rude to just leave again.


~~


"Aww lucky!" Cyrus sighed dreamily. Even though he knew he'd "get his chance" and all, even something as trivial as checking cameras and just the streets sounded like more fun. Amber eyes flickering to the bowl for a moment, he made a mental note to wash it next time he got up.


Once the rabbit finished his thought, Cyrus sat waaaay up and looked back over his seat. He would gaze at March for a moment, eyes sparkling the child he totally was. Raising an arm he gestured to the warm pot still sitting atop the stove. "Mm, March!" the raven called, waving his hand, "There's stew if ya want!"


~~


Soren’s blue eyes cracked open after a while, letting out a breath as the man pushed himself up with his arms, his white hair falling around his face as he took a sitting position. “…Well, I better get going to my room” This had been just a temporal resting spot while his body gained enough strength to move to his own quarters. The food had given the man life, so he had Cyrus to thank for that. The rabbit male gently grabbed the blanket placed on his shoulder and took it off, throwing it over his arm. He then finally stood and grabbed the empty plate that he had left, not wanting others to clean after him too. It was enough with the food. “I feel much better now, thank you so much. I owe you” With that he turned around and made his way to the kitchen so he could wash his plate and go to his room. Soren didn’t really say hello to the other eared man that was chugging down a gallon of milk for a reason he cared nothing about. He simply washed his bowl and walked back to the living room.


“Perhaps in my next assignment, you can come with me. I heard you are quite the energy bar, so I could really use the help.” He spoke while he folded the blanket and placed it back one of the cushions. And maybe he could teach him a thing or two about what this job was about. Consider it a payment for Cy’s kindness; Soren didn’t like to have favors pending.


~~


After spending a few moments of watching/staring, at the thanks his eyes sparkled, and they freaking shimmered at the mention of a team assignment. The younger male hopped to his feet, hands swinging at his sides. "Really?" he asked with a hopeful, happy tone, "That'd be awesome!"


No, he totally wasn't twenty-something years old. He was still five.


But, of course, he couldn't keep Soren around for ever. With a mock salute, Cyrus allowed a grin to stretch across his lips and to his ears. "And, no problem," the raven said, "Rest well, and if you ever need me, it's not that hard to find me-" Probably not. He was either in his room or wherever else there was the excitement - that's not to say that there's always a party in his room. At best, he's just being a total goof all by himself.... Wait, that didn't sound right.


Solitary goofiness was like being mental.


He didn't want to go to the nut house.


~~


The rabbit male gave the other a brief, simple smile before walking away. It wasn’t unusual for Soren to want to keep his distance from people like Cyrus. Not because he hated his energetic personality—On the contrary, Soren admired the man…Mouse…for being like that. He brought smiles to whoever was around him, yet Soren felt like he brought nor could offer nothing to anybody. It was a childish mentality, yes, yes, Soren knew. But could he help the overwhelming insecurity that was always haunting him? No, of course not. At times he would wonder if he was even worth something—Perhaps a single copper coin? Because in his opinion, he didn’t deserve anything gold. Which is why the man loved feeling important,needed, cherished, because that way he convinced himself that he mattered.


With a shake of head, Soren took out the key of his room and stepped inside the safest yet most dangerous place that he knew. Have you heard the saying that states: “Silence is the worst enemy for the restless mind”? If you have, then you understand.


The man walked in and threw the key on the table, taking off his shoes without stopping his way to his bed. Then he unbuckled his belt and with a smooth motion, slipped it off from around his waist, leaving it hanging on his bathroom’s door. Soren let out a heavy sigh when he let his body fall down on the soft mattress, his cheek resting against a pillow. He still had about an hour of duty, so in case he was called for whatever circumstances, he left his phone resting besides his head. But he really wished they left him alone…For now.


The room engulfed him in silence—There wasn’t a sound coming from behind his door, nor from the hallways. It was kind of relieving, especially since his mind was kind enough to only think about his exhaustion than about anything else. And so the rabbit male closed his eyes, and slowly, he let himself finally fall asleep.





Peep, Peep, Peep, Peep….Peep, Peep, Peep—





A loud peeping suddenly started echoing around the room. His hand shot up to press the screen of his cellphone so fast, that it was as if Soren had been expecting for it to go off on that exact moment. ‘Sector 15—suspicious activity confirmed. Report there immediately- I repeat, Sector 15, suspicious activity confirmed.’ He slowly sat up and looked at the words that the phone’s voice had read, clicking on a small map in the message to make it expand. There was a tiny, red dot flashing on the screen, and on the side, a wall of information about the current situation.





‘Wonderland security cameras reported suspicious activity in Sector 15. Two eared men spotted exiting Morfar Ginko—David Tahmen, blonde hair 6’3. Gostov Bergen, black hair 6’5- suspected of having connections with eared dealing branches. ‘


Well, there goes his sleeping time.


Soren leaped off his bed and snatched up the belt that he had taken off, as well as his room keys and hat. At least this time, his mission wasn’t a total waste of time. The white haired man stopped by his dresser and pulled out a drawer, grabbing a silver gun that came into view. He tucked it inside his belt; you could never be too safe. These two men had been on Wonderland’s list for a while and even though it wasn’t exactly a case he was involved in, Soren had read the records. But apparently now he was, so lucky he did. These bastard were known to be sneaky and for a while, they disappeared from wonderland’s radars. Though a mistake was a mistake, even if it was as simple as wanting to go to Morfar Ginko for a drink—One of Stockholm’s most popular bars. The worst part was that those fuckers were eared, one of their own race helping out the humans transport their cargo: Other eared ones who were kidnapped and sold in the underground market. Filthy and utterly disgusting. It was rumored that they used to work for HQ back in New York, but then they hacked a bunch of information about the alliance and ran off to sell it to the humans.


Soren opened his door and stepped out when he had fixed himself. There was a very unusual glint in his eyes that only happened when he focused his mind on a certain task. Right now, it was the mission and those men. Those traitors…


When he arrived into the living room (since he had to walk through it to get to the front door) Soren’s eyes spotted Cyrus and March talking. After all, not much time passed since he had gone back to his room, only about 40 minutes. That’s how quick things outside wonderland moved “Going out again” The man said as he plopped his blue hat on his head to hide the rabbit ears. He didn’t like going out into the public without it, even if other eared didn’t care, Soren just didn’t feel confident enough to do so.


~~


His ears had twitched to attention the moment he caught sound of the rabbit's quick and focused steps; it may have seemed random as hell to the average individual, but if you asked him, Cyrus would go off on a tangent about how steps were incredibly different, depending on any given situation or, mainly, emotion.


No, seriously, he could've written a novel on this crap.


The raven was sitting up when Soren walked in, and soon standing when he spoke. "Going ou-- Did something happen?" He was unaware of it himself - even about the fact that he was taking up the older male's precious time - but his voice had taken a cool, moderately calm tone (you know, despite the usual high strung bullshit that is his entire existence).


"Do you need help?"


It didn't sound demanding or needy by any means, nor did it take on a quality that implied he'd be offended if he was rejected; Cyrus didn't doubt the man's abilities, and already assumed that it was something he was capable of dealing with alone.


It was just an offer, one that Soren wasn't obligated to accept.


~~


"Going ou-- Did something happen? Do you need help?" Soren was inches close to ignore the question and just walk away. But instead, the rabbit male paused and narrowed his eyes—Right, this was the perfect situation to repay him for the food and blanket. Actually, his question couldn’t have fit the situation better. “Actually…” Soren slightly turned, so he could look back at the raven head, “I do. Why don’t you come with me? It can be your first real mission. What do you say?” He wasn’t much of a team player, but he’ll have to put up with it just this one time. Though if the other eared man offered his help as well, Soren was going to have to refuse. He couldn’t deal with that many people while working, and it’s not like March cooked him a meal to begin with.


~~


Hell yeah meal bonus points.


Stiffening for a moment, he quickly nodded his head. Truth be told, he hadn't been expecting Soren to allow him - given the apparent urgency and all - and quickly moved over to him.


Cleaning would have to wait; time to be useles-- er, useful. Right, useful.


His inexperience in the field would definitely limit his capabilities in regards to the current situation (whatever it may have been). However, his experience in general as well as current abilities were - quite luckily - enough to make up for it.


Cyrus gave a quick salute, not wanting to take up too much time with goofball-powers. "Thanks," he said, offering a smile, "I'll follow your lead then."


~~





Alright little mouse, let’s see what you got.


“Good, this way” With that said, he turned and exited the base from the front door. Their base was located in one of the many islands that made up the place. Stockholm is originally made up of 14 main islands, with little ones that were nothing but wilderness—Or so people thought. But in order to go to the city, they had to take a boat, which luckily Soren knew how to operate thanks to his training.


The wonderland boats were all tied up at their pier that faced south, where the city of Stockholm was located. There were a few missing, indicating that some members were out doing their own business. It really didn’t matter which one they took so Soren hopped inside the nearest one and walked across its deck towards the control room. The key for it was hanging besides the door—A rule that they had to follow every time they used one. The white haired man snatched it from the hook and opened the small door that lead to the controls, leaving it open for his mouse friend to hop in and sit at the co-pilot’s spot. But then he paused…”Have you operated a boat before, Cyrus?” He asked, glancing at the younger male. Why not let the rookie here do it? It was more fun that way.


~~


Rememver his jumpiness? It was partially back because, you know, boats and all their rocking horridness. Before he could sit down, he was back on his feet, amber eyes wide in surprise. "Boat?" Cyrus repeated a little...numbly, was that the word? "Operate?"


He soon shook his head, scratching at his cheek sheepishly. "Er... No," the mouse replied, "I've only ever really driven a motorcycle and a car."


That was it. Nothing fancy.


Good heavens he needed to look at his own résumé - boat operating would be extremely handy.


~~


Good, it’s the same thing. Here” The keys were thrown up and towards Cyrus’s direction and he grabbed his arm, moving him towards the polished, wooden steering wheel. “I need to look up some information about these men. So do me a favor and drive” Soren slipped out his cellphone from his back pocket and sat down on the co-pilot’s seat. “Just pull out the boat like it’s a car and keep going south. I’ll take over once we are near ‘holm” You think he was going to go easy on him? Think again. Why do you think Soren didnt have a partner...


~~


Freaking. Freaking. FREAKING.


The minute Soren touched him was the very moment that his skeleton almost burst out of its fleshy cage; he was frickin jumpy. Then he was dragged and dragged and dragged even more to the seat. With the keys in his hand, the mouse put them into the ignition and tried to, you know, not have his brain self-destruct.


Keep going south? Like, backwards!?


Rational thinking didn't exist.


Either way, without causing either of them to blow the fuck up and to doggy heaven or whatever (or hell, or purgatory, whichever worked) Cyrus was backing them up, amber eyes wide and thin tail that was always hidden from sight curled like a pig.


Oh dear they were gonna die.


It was as the other said, functioning much like a car. It was like a car-boat!


Wait. WAIT.


Yes he was aware that it was a boat.


Blame one-track mouse minds.


~~


Even though Soren had given Cy the opportunity to drive the boat on his own, he was still watching him from the corner of his eyes. If something went wrong for whatever reason, it was him who they were going to bark at. I mean, apart from him wanting Cyrus to learn. Soren could sometimes be an arrogant asshole but he did think about others, and since Cyrus haven’t had a real exciting mission yet, he planned to do the best he could to make it one. Yes, like looking out for him in a way, an instinct that was buried deep in his personality.


But the mouse seemed to have gotten the hang of it after the boat moved. Like Soren had said, it was just a car on water.


“Alright Cy, this is the situation—“ the report popped on the screen along with the map of their destination, “We are tracking down two men, David Tahmen and Gostov Bergen. Ex-alliance members who rebelled against it by hacking information out of the HQ database. They soon disappeared and we lost track of them in Paris. Then they resurfaced as partners from an underground company that deals with eared trading and selling and have been two of wonderland’s most wanted men. Luckily, our security camera system matched their identities with two individuals who exited Morfar Ginko, that really famous bar in downtown Stockholm.” Soren paused, scrolling down a wall of text, his blue eyes reading the records that he had pulled out. He had stayed quiet as he read, until the white haired man realized he had stopped informing his partner in crime about the situation, “Ah right…So—“The rabbit male turned to look at his mouse companion, “Their movements are being tracked. We need to figure out why they suddenly turned up here and if their appearance has anything to do with one of the eared slave branches. Any questions?” If you actually were to look at the mission in more simpler terms, they were just going to follow them for a while and see what they were up to. It wasn't a spy's job to do something about it. But again, Soren had to make the mission sound exciting. Put a little spice into it, as some might say.


~~


Cyrus had fallen silent during the explanation, half of his attention focused on the driving and half on the information presented to him. At the mention of David and Gostov's affiliation with the underground trading.


Which generally involved a human corporation. Obviously.


An expression that hadn't exactly been seen on the male's features before had suddenly made its appearance, fitting into an oddly natural position on his face. His grip on the steering wheel tightened and his eyes narrowed, possessing a cold gloom that greatly rivaled their usual warm glow.


As most wouldn't know much about, Cyrus sort of despised the human organizations - as most already did themselves - and hearing eared individuals assisting one struck a little too close to home. It may not be a spy's job to intervene in many physical ways, but as the boat sliced across the surface of the dark water, the raven wished he was allowed to punch either David or Gostov's jaw in - whoever he encountered first.


Remembering that, hellooooo he was being watched, Cyrus quickly forced himself to unclench his jaw and smile at Soren. "Nope!" he responded with a energized voice, "All good over here; you know, you should really earn a gold star for your explanation prowess."


~~


It wasn’t that Soren was good at reading people, it was just that he tended to pay attention quite a lot. Cyrus’s change of expression had been clear as day to his eyes, and just like the mouse’s eyes narrowed, so did Soren’s in suspicion. Especially after that little half-assed recovery that he tried to pull. Oh, Soren knew about that very well, considering he was always forced to carry a fake smile even though he felt like complete dog shit throughout his childhood. Was it horrible to admit that he had felt a tinge of happiness when his family sold him? Getting away from those people had been one of the best things that happened in his life. Unfortunately, being a pet was not something that Soren liked either.





“You should really earn a gold star for your explanation prowess."


His lips twitched into a smile. A very sarcastic one that is. “And you should really earn a gold star for trying too hard” Soren didn't mean for that to sound mean in any way. It was more of a suggestion than anything; The man looked back down at his phone and locked the screen, tucking it in his pocket. “Remember, our mission is to follow them. Nothing more” Soren didn’t really know what had gotten into Cyrus’s nerves, but it was true—Sunshine didn’t last forever. The night had to take over eventually, isn’t it right?


The man said nothing for a few minutes, just staring blankly into the vast horizon, where the orange clouds peeked out and where the few remaining rays of the sun showered the city in the distance; They were close. “How are you doing with the driving? Want me to take over?”


~~


"And you should really earn a gold star for trying too hard”





Whoops.


Hand lifting from the steering wheel, the other still a bit tightly clenched on the polished wood, he scratched at his cheek. "Yeah, well.. I'm just Mr. Try-hard as you can see."


He was internally scolding himself for letting those...inner emotions to poke their ugly head out. But what could you do now, right?


The hand that scratched at his cheek had moved to the steering well again. At Soren's offer, he hummed lightly, head tilting slightly. "Eeh... You probably should," Cyrus replied, looking over with a smile, "I don't know the area yet." As he spoke, the boat slowed in its approach.


~~


Soren stood up when Cyrus took his offer, leaning in to grab the wooden steer before he let the other step to the co-pilot’s seat. He decided not to comment any further about the try hard thing. It really was none of his business and he was sure Cyrus didn’t want to get into a whole lot detail. Unless he didn’t mind sharing, but Soren wasn’t the one to ask.


They were going a little too slow for his liking, so the man pressed the speed pedal and made the boat go faster across the waters.


~~~~~~


Once he had arrived at the harbor, the white haired male drove the boat until it was besides the pier, where he tied it up with the thick ropes that the boat carried. “After you” He motioned with his hand in a gentleman like way when he lowered the steps, allowing his companion to go first. When Cyrus did so, Soren stepped out, taking a moment to stretch; “Alright. Time to take a walk” From here, all they had to do was walk towards the parking lot of the pier and there, a car would be waiting for them.


The night was approaching, and the sea breeze was blowing quite restlessly. Soren’s hairs ruffled about, and he had to blow several strands away from his face; it was chilly, something the man didn’t enjoy. He was the cuddle-in front-of-the-fireplace type…


~~


And while Mr. Soren was freezing his cute fluffy tail off, Cyrus was wearing a grin on his face. The cold air had turned his nose a little red and his ears felt like they were gonna freeze off, but like hell he would complain.


It was better being outside in his opinion (then again, he was all for inside time when there was something to do. Being the restless sort had its downside).


As they walked towards their destination, there were moments when the mouse would totally derail from their set course, either running ahead or backwards to stare at something he hadn't ever seen before, or something he almost missed; there were even things he knew and had seen before, but new place means new things (even if he had been out here once before).


Wait. Serious mode.


Before they would reach the car Cyrus returned to Soren's side and resisted every urge to book it to god damn Narnia or something. Either way, he was still smiling.


~~





He almost wanted to make a run for it to the car, trying his best to hold back the urge to hug himself and let his teeth chatter. It was now that he was regretting coming out without something warmer—How could Cyrus be all energetic like that? The rabbit male wouldn’t comment on it but, he was seriously hyper. Skipping around and trailing to the sides and looking at all directions…How jealous he was of the mouse. If only he could share a little bit of his drive with the poor shivering man. Soren didn’t have much experience with other races and in all honestly, Cyrus was the first mouse eared one he has met. It was quite intriguing, how each race had their own characteristic...Where all the mouse eared like that?


The white haired man took out a car key from his pocket and pressed a button, which made a car parked a few feet away from them beep-beep. He looked back to see if Cyrus was following, not wanting the curious mouse to stray too far and accidentally get lost. Cy was his responsibility at the moment, even if Soren was sure he was old enough to take care of himself…Right?...I mean, he guessed. The mouse male did look quite young to him.


“Ah…” It was such a relief when he stepped inside the car, letting out a breath. The cool breeze had reddened his cheeks, nose and ears…Damn this weather. And the worse part was when he turned on the car and the air that blew out of the rounded vents was COLD. “Agh…I dont get how you arent cold” His thoughts came out from his lips unconsciously, rubbing his hands. They had to wait until the car heated up a little bit and while they waited, Soren handed his cellphone to Cy so he could be his navigator. “Alright, care to help me with the directions?”


~~


“Agh…I dont get how you arent cold”





Cyrus snorted, hands rubbing together. "I'm actually freezing my ass off," he responded, looking over with a grin, "But Im too distracted by literally everything else!"


That was literally his only justification for it. He might need a "Justification 101" book - it'd make more sense.


With Soren's phone in hand, the raven took a moment to look at the screen, humming lightly as the air within the confines of the vehicle warmed up nicely. At the older male's question he nodded his head, glancing over at him. "Yeah, sure. Is it very far from here?"


~~


"Not so far. They are staying in a hotel called Radisson Blu Waterfront. Once we get there we can maybe infiltrate the hotel’s phone and camera system, and then we can be on our way. We’ll send the information to HQ and they can send some agents to catch these bastards” Soren explained while he pulled out the car and drove out of the parking space, “Just tell me what roads to take”


~~


"Ah, okay.." His brow furrowed lightly, lips tugging down into sort of a childish pout. "Well, you're gonna want to make a right here--"


They went on like that for a while, making some necessary turns here and there or just driving along straight routes. Occasionally Cyrus would let his gaze lift to look at the passing buildings and street sign, all for the sake of organizing himself just a liitle, and there were moments where he ALMOST forget to direct Soren (almost. All was moderately okay). Soon the duo arrived at their location, the mouse returning the cellular device to its rightful owner.


Turning in his seat to look around more, Cyrus returned his attention to the rabbit. "Hey," he started with curiously, "We should try checking the guest book; what if they aren't admitted as their actual names or something?" His finger lifted for emphasis as he went on to say; "We could probably figure out their super sneaky secret names, and track them that way if, you know, there is a reason to."


~~


“Good idea. I’ll leave that up to you then” The man leaned towards Cy, placing a hand besides his waist so his other one could reach down and open the glove compartment in-front of the younger male’s knees. It opened, and a gun came into view when the small light inside shone down on its black metal. Soren took the gun and held it in-front of Cyrus’s face, looking straight into his eyes with a dead ass expression, “You will only use this for emergencies. Do you understand? But missions come with surprises, if for any reason something happens to you, remember you have your phone. Wonderland should have placed a tracking device in it. So we will find you…no matter where you are” And with those words being said, the gun was placed in Cyrus’s hand and Soren backed off to open his door.


The two had to check inside the hotel either they liked it or not. He had pulled up a blueprint of it earlier that showed where the security room was, and other exits or ventilation areas. Those men were inside the building and they had to confirm whether they were who wonderland thought they were or not.


So the plan was this—Check In the hotel, make Cyrus get that guest book and see if the time they checked in was consistent with the informationgathered. Then Soren needed to get to that security room and hack the system by installing a very deadly program that their wonderful hackers had created. And with that, the information was sent back to HQ, who took it from there and their job was done. Their (fake or not) names, appearances, credit card number that was used to pay, etc. If these were the men they were looking for, then their next destination was eared hell.


“Remember, get the guest book while I distract the nice looking lady in the front” He whispered before wrapping and arm around the mouse’s shoulders…right when Soren walked through those doors, his whole mood, expression—just everything, changed. Much TOO fast for anyone to notice the transformation.


“…UAgh…Honeyy…I told you I can WALK by myseeeeelf~!” staggered steps, red cheeks, red nose; His words came out slurred and messy, rolling off his tongue clumsily and in a very flamboyant matter. “You always…worry you—Silly boy!” Soren was already having way too much fun with this. But what better way to distract the people around them than to act like a crazy drunk? This was the beauty of his job…He got to do this kind of shit and get paid for it.


~~


Well that was a god damn gun.


Frankly he was surprised that it was being put in his possession - even if it was just for safety reasons - but accepted it nonetheless. As Soren spoke, the raven would nod in understanding, sort of refusing to crack a smile or make a jovial comment during the entire thing.


Even Cyrus understood the seriousness of work.


Upon entering the hotel, he stole a bunch of quick glances, taking in their surroundings in a way that didn't look suspicious or blatantly obvious. It was more like internal mapping for future reference of something. And then Soren just went nuts.


The need to call the nuthouse felt serious...


For a brief moment, he had this incredibly shocked and bewildered expression; but it could be brushed off as his surprise at Soren's sudden use of outside-voice in an indoor place. Falling into character, Cyrus made to support the other, an embarrassed smile on his face as he gave each lobby guest an apologetic look their way. "Of course I worry- Oh geez, move!"


He had to casually steer Soren away from a bell boy or whoever - he really didn't care, this was far too enjoyable - and stumbled up to the poor receptionist at the front desk. Being a wee bit small, Cyrus was having a hard time keeping up with the rabbit's large steps and weight; but that only added to the effect, no?


Leaning against the front desk, still supporting his drunken companion, he offered a smile. "Aw, geez.. I'm so sorry about this--"


Why did he stop?


Because chances were Soren was about to fucking lose it.


~~


“OOOOOOOoooh-mai god! You are so CUTE” this was his chance, the moment where he had to completely get that woman’s eyes away from Cyrus. Oh but he wasn’t worried…He was going to. “Erm, H-hi…Can I help you?” Naturally, his overly happy and ‘drunk’ behavior would freak anybody out. Especially with the way Soren was staring at her. “Ugh..I wish I could be such a pretty lady like you—mm-HMMM! What’s your secret!? Huh? HUH?” Her brown eyes flashed towards the other male who had been helping the white haired man walk until now. It was almost like she was begging Cyrus to get this lunatic off her back. Though the woman jumped when she felt a hand touch her hair, taking a step to the side in startle. “Please, sir, keep your hands to yourself.” She hissed, glancing away and looking around to see if she could spot a security guard, or somebody that would help her the situation.


But there was nobody—“ Excuse meeeee, hellooooo!" Then she was rudely interrupted when a hand was waved infront of her face "What would you say is the greatest thing about being a woman?”


“Erm…Would you two sirs like a roo--?”


“What would you saaaayy!!? I think it’s the hair. Yeah, the hair is so wonderful” And to emphasize the words, he flipped some of his white hairs back with a wink as a bonus. The woman shook her head, holding back a grimace. It seemed like she was quite the nervous one and didn’t know how to deal with the situation nor how to reply to the question. Too bad she was on the job and she had to smile, slowly turning back to look at the raven head besides him, “Uhm, are you here for a stay? If not, I’m going to ask you to leave.” She said in a very nervous tone, glancing in annoyance at Soren when he giggled out of nowhere, smiling at her frown in return; Then her eyes went back to lock on Cy, waiting for an answer.


~~


"Ah, yes please," he replied with an equally nervous smile. Waving his hand by his face, Cyrus went on to add in a whisper; "Please don't kick us out, I swear I'll get him under control."


LikE HELL HE WOULD.


Sure he felt bad for the woman, but this was just too much fun good GOD. Truth be told the raven wanted nothing more than to be stuck in this moment forever with a "drunk-off-his-ass" Soren.


What if this was how he really was when drunk off his god damn rocker..?


Cyrus would have to find out eheheheheh


~~


“Right…ermm…” She blinked when her eyes strayed down to her desk behind the counter, frowning when something that was supposed to be there wasn’t. “Uhm, give me a second sir—“ She opened drawers, looked under papers, looked everywhere that she could but it wasn’t anywhere to be found. But panic was taking over the woman, not wanting to be embarrassed any longer by a crazy, gay drunk and his friend here. She turned around and grabbed one of the keys that was hanged on the wall, quickly pacing back to where the two were waiting. “Here you go! Your payment will be mailed up to your room shortly. Please, do not cause any inconvenience to the other guests” Was her warning. “Oh dear! Shes worried about me too—Aha—ahaha-haaahah..ahahaha!” The man wrapped an arm around Cyrus and brought him close, squeezing him slightly, “I’ll see you around cutie-pie!”


That’s it. That’s all that he needed to do. Of course, walking all the way to the elevator as he laughed like an idiot.


….Then the doors closed, his laugh disappearing behind them.


“…Good job” Annnndd…Cut. Soren was back to normal.


~~


Naturally, nabbing things was but a thing of instinct; if your distant ass ancestors can nab cheese from mouse-killing trinkets then he could nab a book for chrissake. A sort of amused smirk (a smirk, not a smile) stretched across his lips, Cyrus looking up at the older man. "Thank you," he said, a spark in his amber eyes, "You did well too."


Not wanting to get murdered for internally laughing, the raven looked at the room key, the current whereabouts of the guest book unbeknownst to the other. "What do you think David and Gostov are doing here of all places?" he asked with a light voice, "Surely they're not here on vacation?"


~~


“That’s what we are here to find out. It's possible they were meeting with business partnerts. But i'm sure they arent here to vacation, no” Soren chuckled, eying him up and down. He paused “…Erm, where is the book?” Sure he had it right? Since it disappeared from the place it was when they entered, but Soren didn’t actually see it happen. He just trusted his partner.


-Ding-


The doors of the elevator opened.


~~


Stepping out into the hall, Cyrus only continued to jingle the room key, double checking the tag as he searched for the room. "I've got it," he assured, the other hand tapping the front of his white shirt, "It's safe and totally fine."


Naturally he liked to make jokes, so when he did a quick jog ahead - conveniently stopping before their room number - Cyrus turned to face the male before he stuck his hip out to the side, a hand on his head and the other "sassily" resting on the hipbone. Mimicking Soren's flamboyant-drunk voice, he gasped. "Oohh! You sweet BOY, you're soooooooOOO welcome to pat me down anYtime~!"


Damn it was hard to keep a straight face, the mouse's mouth twitching as he resisted the urge to burst out laughing.


~~


“…………………………………………………………”


His face almost exploded with pure, raw embarrassment—Oh…my god. Soren was not expecting that at all. H-he was nothing like that!! NOTHING! It had been purely for work and only work that he acted like a complete idiot! Though never in his life have somebody mocked him that way, and all that Soren could do was stare at the mouse for some seconds in bafflement, his mouth slightly opened in shock.


“W-w-what!?”


Ok, compose yourself—The rabbit male thought, frowning down at him to hide the pink dust on his cheeks. Yup, it was quite difficult to break Soren’s ‘cool’ guy mask, but Cyrus had done it just-like-that. Ok, Ok so…what did he do!? How did he respond to this? Did he laugh? Did he cry? Did he…did he run? His only escape were those keys that Cy was holding. His blue eyes locked onto those and with a smooth motion, Soren snatched them off the mouse’s fingers, “That was only for work—Don’t get the wrong idea!” He barked as he walked pass him and jammed the key into the lock. He had a grumpy pout and red cheeks, making him look like an angry-grown up baby.


~~


This was too precious good god save him already. Hands flew up to cover his own mouth, the keys already long gone and too far to recover. "I'm s-s-s-sorry..." he hissed out, eyes beginning to tear up from his contained laughter.


While he was indeed sorry as hell for embarrassing Soren, it was still too wonderful. He had known and understood that it was for work and work specifically, but god damn.


Strolling in after the male, Cyrus gave his arm a quick pat and a smile. "Yeah," he decided aloud with a very light, warm laugh, "I'm sorry. I won't do it again." Moving over to the bed, he gave a sparkling look back. "So no on the pat down?" the mouse joked, flopping backwards onto the bed.


Okay, that was enough shit against Soren. Cyrus was soon holding the guest book in his hands, a grin still stuck on his face as he examined the first page.


Poor rabbit...


~~


Soren decided to just not comment. On anything. Lets just cut everything that happened back there, and put a pin on it. Boop. There, gone, now his mind could focus on his work.


Still recovering from that little prank Cy pulled, he grabbed a chair and pulled it out to sit on it. Now that they had the guest book and all the information, they could figure out more details about the situation. “ehem…” He cleared his throat, pulling out a small, squared phone-looking device from the pocket of his jacket. It almost looked like a Gameboy advanced when he opened it up, except with a miniature keyboard and much bigger in size.


“The security camera in front saw them step inside at 20:45 (9:45pm). Did anybody check in at that time?”


~~


Serious mode go. Seeeeeeeerious mode. The mouse sat up then, flipping through to that time. He read through the names briskly and without much error, tapping against the page when found them. "Three people, actually," Cyrus responded, "A David and a Gostov, but with slightly altered last names, and a...."


The mouse fell silent then, the lightness of the atmosphere turning tense in the twitch of a nerve. His grip had tightened on the guest book, bringing it closer to his widened eyes as if in disbelief.


The name he read, with the same time as the two bastards written beside it, made his heart lunge up to his throat and made his very existence quiver in panic.


Serious mode was so far gone by this point, and now there was just a fear-based panic. However, he remembered that Soren was still there, and that there was still work to be done.


For now - at least in this moment - he wouldn't bring personal matters into this, or allow it to sway his thoughts.


Moving the book away from his face, Cyrus kept his gaze down but focused, maintaining a calm expression. "Sorry," he apologized, "I misread it; and an Eleanor Marsh. Think they're all together or just coincidence?"


He knew he managed to recover that little slip up a bit better than the last one, but dammit this was happening more frequently.


~~


“So they were stupid enough to not change their first names? How funny” Soren wasn’t facing Cyrus at that time, he had been typing up some code in the small device as he listened. The mouse got lucky enough for the man to not notice the hesitation, nor be aware of the fear that had frown in Cyrus’s eyes. That pause, for Soren, only lasted about two seconds. But he frowned at the name, eyes glancing up to glare at the wall in front of him. “Eleanor Marsh? There was another person with them?” The name was unfamiliar and new to him. Wonderland didn’t even report a third person…’I wonder…’ His fingers silently typed up the name in the device, hoping to find at least some kind of clue about who they were, but nothing came up. Just a simple [Match Not Found] on the screen.


“…….?” Soren blinked, “…Well I don’t recognize that name. Does it say what room number they are staying in?” He closed the small device with his one finger and finally turned to stare at the mouse, his face expressionless as ever.


~~


He was sort of internally fighting to keep the peppy energy in his face, looking over at Soren. "103," Cyrus replied before looking back at the book. No one could possibly imagine how hard he was contemplating whether or not he should tell his companion about his connection with the woman...


Unfortunately, as selfish as it may have been, the mouse wanted to sedate his growing fear; "Hey," he started with, tone cautious with thought, "Those two wouldn't, you know, bring their target here would they? If they were to trade them off or sell 'em as slaves?"


God he hoped not... If that were the case, chances were Cyrus would be out of a job before you could sing the god damn alphabet. And he would be snapped in half mentally. And he would no longer have a stupidly tall rabbit for an acquaintance/friend.


Aaaaaand he'd probably end up on someone's hitlist/most wanted list.


Bright side? Both David and Gostov would be dead and that would be the end of it.


But that was only if Cyrus couldn't control himself and keep it cool.


Cool was his middle name.


~~


"Hey…Those two wouldn't, you know, bring their target here would they? If they were to trade them off or sell 'em as slaves?"





There was something about living things that Soren found particularly interesting, including in himself. The man took his time to answer, just because his blue eyes had locked with Cyrus’s honey-colored ones.





‘The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye is healthy, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness?’


A person's thoughts can be clearly ascertained by looking in his or her eyes. You can determine a person's emotions and so much more when you do so…If they are shy, if they are feeling, hearing, visualizing something, what they are thinking, their fears…. Eyes can hold tons of information about a person and Soren very well knew this. If the eyes are the window to a soul, then perception is the world the soul lives in. in simpler terms, if there was one window to a person’s emotions, it was their eyes.


Cyrus’s eyes begged for him to say ‘No.’





Sigh…


“No, that would be foolish of them” He said, going back to the situation at hand. And that was all he said on the matter, his lips pressing into a thin line as he turned around and walked towards the door; ‘Of course, it was highly possible. Could that other person be…?’ No, they weren’t sure. He wasn’t sure. Soren couldn’t go around speculating things without hard, cold facts. “I’m going to take a walk. Feel free to stay here if you want. We can’t move until midnight” That was the time the employee shifts switched, and the time the guards at the security room left for a few minutes to rotate.


~~


It wasn't a wave of relief that washed over him at Soren's response; while he wished it was, every fiber of his being continued to snap at him.


Get to Eleanor.


That was basically what his everything was screaming at this point, and he wished he could shut it all off even if just for a moment.


Cyrus wanted to run. Damn it all, he wanted to just burst out of their room and get to 103 all for the sake of his own selfishness.


But he knew better.


Putting the guest book on the bed beside him, the raven flopped back with a huff. "Nah," he responded, one arm folding over his amber eyes, "I'll just stay here. You know, holding down the fort and all." And, you know, trying to remind himself that, hey, this was work. Work work work.


The other hand lifted to wave Soren off in a playful manner. "If you need me, you know how to reach me."


Work work work...


~~






“Ok, I’ll call you if anything comes up”


The door closed.


Now, off to check out the area a little bit.


Soren was relieved to get some alone time with his thoughts, it was truly tiring when he had to watch over somebody—Well, mostly because he wasn’t used to it. The question that Cyrus had asked kept trailing in his mind and troubling him. That person wasn’t a slave…right? Wonderland wouldn’t make silly mistakes like that. They didn’t spot another person with the two men, so…Who was she? Elanor? No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t figure out who that was. Maybe, she wasn’t even part of this whole picture, but meant to confuse them? This was the most frightening part about his work. There were a thousand roads to go to, but if you were to walk to the wrong one…It was over. Either your life, or the life of another. David had also been an agent from wonderland, meaning they were dealing with an ex-spy here…. terrifying. But Soren wasn’t going to lose to them. The alliance knew where they were and if they wanted to, they could have this hotel surrounded.


With a sigh, he turned around the corner and walked through the random hallways of the floor. It was like a maze up here. Was it pathetic if he admitted his deficiency with directions? Even finding his way back to the elevator was hard.


He waited for it to come to his floor with crossed arms, tapping his foot. They were on the fifth floor, and he watched as those numbers approached…2….3…..4….5…





-Ding- The doors of the elevator opened. And it was empty.


Once inside, the rabbit male pressed the button for floor number 10 and leaned back against one of the elevator’s walls. The stew that Cyrus made him had already gone down, feeling a slight tinge of hunger. The dining room was on the floor that the elevator was ascending to. Though suddenly, he felt the big, metal box slow down until it stopped on floor number seven.


You know how people say that seven was the luckiest of numbers? Well, when those doors opened and a certain face revealed behind them, Soren begun questioning that. David Tahmen, one of the rebels from the alliance, stood there, holding a suitcase. Soren’s pupils shrank in surprise, but he held back from appearing staggered at the man’s sight. After all, they were strangers, simply two people who were forced to share an enclosed space to get from one place to another. Plus, the perfect opportunity to follow him. ‘Well Damn….Speak of the devil...'


David simply took a step in, turned and pressed the button for the highest number in the building. The 23rd floor.


Silence…..


~~


How he would wished he could sleep. A nap would've been great, it would've been something to occupy his mind... Or, you know, maybe not..


Rolling onto his chest, Cyrus buried his face into one of the pillows, hugging it like a child would. His blood was threatening to boil and his head was a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off.


If Soren was right, then Eleanor was safe and chances were it was all a coincidence.


If he was wrong, then someone was going to bloody die.


All of his efforts would be wasted, should Eleanor actually be a victim of the slave trade. It was far too much like the situation back home, but they were supposed to be safe.


Closing his eyes, Cyrus fell a small way into the dreamscape, a memory being the sequence to greet his sore, tired eyes.

___

​

"Are you okay?"


The raven mouse looked up, a hand against his swollen cheek. He hated that he couldn't see past the heavy and sloppy bandages over his right eye, but he couldn't change it right now; a girl nearly his age with rose petals for hair and vats of honey for eyes was standing in front of him, hands against her chest. Her expression was heavy with worry and her mouth had curved into a frown, every part of her expression focused on him and him only.


Cyrus forced a smile onto his lips, beaming up at her from his spot on the edge of his bed. "I'm fine," he assured her, "Really, Nora, don't worry about me."


"How can I not!" she snapped almost instantly, tears swelling at her sweet eyes. Nora ran forward without any hesitation, grabbing his exposed and freshly scarred shoulders, gripping them in sorrow but with a touch as soft as a feather. "You don't have to do this anymore!" she went on to insist, "I'm strong too! I- I can handle it too!"


But he wasn't having any of that. They may have been children at the time, but their world had forced the two of them to mature far more quickly than they should have. Cyrus took her wrists into his hands, gazing up at her with a clouded amber orb. "But I don't want you too," he told her with a smooth voice.


"Cy-!"


"I'm still alive-" For how long that would last, he had no idea. "-and I'm almost done figuring this all out."


Cyrus smiled gently at her, head tilted to the side slightly. "You'll be okay," he promised then, "You, and everyone else too."


Nora's bottom lip quivered and her eyes had become silent waterfalls, her blurred gaze fixated at the idiot with scruffy black hair in front of her. Her wrists separated from his hands only for her arms to wrap around his injured torso. "If you won't let me get hurt," she said softly, hugging his head to her chest, "that just means you're overprotective."


The male only gave a breathy laugh, eyes closing as his sister's warmth began to protect him like a blanket; it even washed away all of his terrors from an hour prior.


Nora had been the only one to know about the horrors being done to Cyrus, and had often tried to take his place.


Like he would let her - the only thing he told her was to come up with a new name, a new identity.


In their letters, he continued to laugh at her for making hers so similar to her actual name. . .

___

​

His eyes opened, staring at the wall in front of his head.


First of all, David and Gostov were so dead if they had put their hands on her.


Secondly, he was going to keep his cool and do things properly.


Thirdly, they were so god damn dead.


~~


It had been unknown to Soren that the elevator had come to a stop on the tenth floor, at his destination. The rabbit male was unciounciously glaring at the back of the man’s head; “Is this your floor?” His eyes widened when David turned around, glancing back at him since the elevator was just sitting there with its doors open. “Ah-I…right, excuse me” It would be too suspicious if he were to suddenly change his mind and randomly go to the 23rd floor…Soren had no choice but to walk out and let those doors close behind him.


They are, with no doubt, here.


The urgency of getting to that security room started to become an uncomfortable pressure...But he cant just burst inside the room and get caught….Damn! What could he do? Come on Soren…Think! ‘You are a fucking Spy, gogdamnit! You were TRAINED for this…’ He thought. Why was David going to the 23rd floor!? His room was 103 which was on the second level of the hotel….No, he had to at least check it out.


So he took a deep breath, and just walked down the hallway in a relaxed matter. It appeared as if the white haired male had been making his way towards the dining room but, just before he was in front of the entrance, Soren made a right turn and pushed a heavy door open, stepping inside the fire-exit stairwell of the hotel. Even if it meant going up 13 floors, Soren had to. His mind wouldn’t let him eat in peace if he knew that man was roaming around. And he had a suitcase too...





‘I wonder what's inside’


~~


Yeah no.


There was literally no way in hell he would just continue to sit around; he couldn't - or more so that he wouldn't - try contacting Soren. Who knew what he was doing, right? Besides, this was more of a...personal issue at this point. Rolling right off of the bed, rubbing the crook of his neck as if it bothered him, Cyrus made to leave the room.


But the dresser mirror stopped him.


Maybe it was because he was so alert right now, or because painful memories had found their way back inside his head, but for some reason - even under the protection of his long clothing - his old, deep, and equally neaty scars felt like they were burning into view. He removed his hand from the crook of his neck only to cover it again just a heartbeat later; his collar had moved ever so slightly, revealing the sharp edge of a scar that ran along the top of his shoulder. It would've taken just as much effort to simply readjust the collar to cover it again, but Cyrus had been startled and chose to cover it with his own hand.





My eye hurts, he thought to himself, leaning towards the mirror so as to examine his own face.


The scars that covered his features had, fortunately, been thinner and faded into his skin in a way that made them hard to notice (unless someone were to grab his face and peer at it like it was a god damn map of the Sahara). Cyrus knew he had some under his mop of soft raven hair, but they couldn't be seen anyhow.


Suddenly, he took his hands and quickly smacked his own cheeks together. "Stupid stupid mouse!" he scolded himself out loud. Shaking his head, the raven spun on his heel and dramatically marched out the door, arms swinging at his sides.


Past, it's a thing of the past, Cyrus reminded himself, puffing his cheeks out in a minor point as he stomped down the hall, Ain't nobody got time for my moping.


Pressing the button to call for the elevator, he checked his phone for the time.


Now, what was he going to do now; something he shouldn't or wander like a nut?


~~


Tap, tap, tap, tap…!!!!





His quick steps echoed in the long, empty stairwell as the male skipped steps and rushed upwards. Thankfully his rabbit side gave Soren agility and speed, so in a few minutes the man was almost at the top, barely out of breath. It would be easier if he had taken the elevator, honestly, but he wasn’t dealing with a simpleton here. He was dealing with an ex-spy…


The long steps stopped in front of a heavy, metal looking door with the number ‘23’ besides it. His lips released a sigh, flipping some of his white hairs away from his face—Look natural. Look as if you didn’t just run up to 13 flight of stairs…Breathe in…Breathe out….


Soren slowly opened the door, first peeking out to see if anybody was in the hall before he quickly slipped out into the walkway. Floor number 23 was almost identical to the other ones, meaning there was nothing special to it. Or at least that’s what he thought. But it was quiet…Too quiet. He couldn’t hear a single voice coming from the rooms as he walked passed the doors. Neither from people, or from turned on televisions. He actually felt out of place, since he was the only thing moving or making noise thanks to the sound of his steps. “…………..” It was very weird. Soren had a bad feeling about this, he could feel it in his whiskers—Like some might say.


‘Tarara! And so the news for this evening! We bring you some breaking news! There was a major accident in the intersection, two cars—“ The male almost jumped in startle when a voice suddenly spoke from the room he was passing. Somebody must have turned it on because the announcer’s voice faded in out of thin air, interrupting his thoughts. His eyes glanced towards the door, still stopped in front of it; There was nothing special about it, just like this floor.


So Soren shook his head and continued...





‘Hey!…Turn that off!’





“……….” The announcer’s voice was then cut off and the whole floor fell into silence once again. No one else spoke after that.


~~


Okay, maybe something a little rash.


Cyrus hopped into the elevator and made to go down a floor or two. Which one had 103..? Even as he traveled down, the raven kept trying to decide whether or not this was even worth it. What was there to be gained from inspecting David and Gostov's room?


They were ex-spies, right? He wasn't even an actual spy yet!


As the elevator traveled downward, the mouse was actually starting to deem himself as a god damn idiot. There was no way that this would end well.


Nonetheless he continued downward, stepping out when the doors parted open with a ding. Stepping quickly, Cyrus tried to move as fast as he could without attracting unwanted attention.


Coming to room 103, he looked around for something he could rely on for a quick getaway (should this fail, of course). When he took notice of a small chandelier by a vent shaft, Cyrus took a calming breath and leaned against the wall beside the door.


No sound from him, no excess movement.


He only listened, amber gaze flickering to the vent.


~~





Click…





“My, my…I see we have a little pest problem in the building.” A cold, metal like object was pressed on the side of Cyrus’s head, “Didn’t anybody tell you eavesdropping is rude?” Gostov Bergen, an ex-HQ member stood beside the mouse, his arm leading to the black gun in his hand; His red eyes had an amused glint to them and one of his hands lazily rested inside his pocket. If Cyrus were to turn his head the other way, his forehead would meet with the muzzle—With the black hole that only wished to put a bullet through his head.


Gostov have been watching him closely since the moment Cyrus stepped out of the elevator. In fact, he was watching everybody who stepped out of the elevator…It was his job, to keep suspicious people away and Cyrus couldn’t’ have been more obvious. Sneaking around outside their room; The mouse was literally asking to get caught.


“You make a sound, and I’ll blow your brains out. Put your hands behind your head, mouse” hissed the cat.


~~


Oh. Oh.


This was quite unlucky indeed.. However, it startled him more than anything, the mouse letting his gaze flicker over to Gostov. Taking in the appearance he was greeted with - and just the gun itself - Cyrus lifted his hands carefully, soon placing them behind his head just as he was instructed to do so.


No time for wise-cracks or witty retorts like in the movies; how come the main hero didn't have a gun at point-blank range when they made a joke?? This was bloody great... Was he fired yet?


~~


“Good boy—“ Gostov reached out for his hands and forced-pull them down until Cyrus’s finger tips were touching his own upper back, right below his neck. The black haired man kept a tight grip on them, “Now be a dear and walk to the elevator, I want to…Talk to you” Those last words came out snake like and filled with venom, hissing through his teeth. Gostov poked the raven head on the back with the gun so he could start moving, and led him a few steps away where the elevator was located, both walking inside when the doors opened…


Ding! Gostov slammed the number 23 with his fist and smiled until they both disappeared behind the doors.


It was then that the black haired cat squeezed the hands and kicked Cyrus towards a side wall, quickly walking over before the mouse could recover just to kneel him on the stomach; The gun was one again pressed on his head, “So, I guess Wonderland was dumb enough to send people.” He almost barked a laugh at his own words. “Where is your partner? Our dear receptionist clearly stated there were two of you”


~~


The arm thing hurt, the blasted wall hurt, and now he was doubled over from a hit in the stomach. Great.


Trying to recover his breath, Cyrus glared heavily up at Gostov, a glint in his amber orbs. "Hate to break it to you, pumpkin," the mouse hissed, a hand against his stomach, "but I have nooooooo clue--"


He put some flamboyant-drunk into his tone and knew damn well that it wouldn't end well because of that. Nonetheless he was in no real mood for this; Gostov was an asshole. End of story. Cyrus considered going on a tangent to divert the man's train of thought from Soren, but couldn't think of the best way how.


"Besides," the raven ended up saying, "he doesn't even know I came after you-" A smirk was stretching across his lips. "-it's a little bit personal, you see. I couldn't care less about 'Wonderland' right now anyways!"


Cyrus wanted to headbutt the damn guy.


~~


Before Cyrus’s tongue could roll off the last bit of his words, a fist came flying to his face. You see, Gostov didn’t have much patience…Specialy with mouse-eared. It wasn’t personal, he just hated them in general…Okay maybe it was a bit personal. The pupil’s in the man’s eyes seem to slit in a dangerous way; Gostov’s hand snapped towards Cyrus’s face and quickly took a hold of his cheeks before the mouse could fall off to the side. He pulled him up and squeezed them hard enough to make the boy’s lips pucker up.


18….19…20…


“You know, pumpkin, you piss me off. Maybe I can make some money out of you too” He wasn’t going to let some wonderland kids ruin his and his partner’s plans. Clearly, this mouse wasn’t going to tell him where that other spy was, but did he care? No. He could just keep this kid and make double the profit. Gostov just hoped David was done with what he had to do, because their plans changed.





Ding!


The raven head smirked, feeling the elevator shake slightly, before its doors opened. ‘Oh, I cant wait to tell him what I foun—‘


“Cyrus?” Gostov’s ears perked when the doors revealed a tall, white haired man. He stood there in shock at the sight of the scene he inside the metal box. Cyrus pressed against the wall by a dark haired man who was squeezing his cheeks and pressing a gun at his head—


Did…Did he miss something? It wasn’t until his inner self slapped his brain awake that he recognized the man’s face. “Cyrus!!”


Oh. Oh...


~~


Dammit his nose was bleeding wasn't it?! Shoved against the wall and held still by a hand that tightly gripped his face, the mouse continued to hold his glare.





"You know, pumpkin, you piss me off. Maybe I can make some money out of you too."


"Good luck with that," Cyrus managed to growl out, one of his hands clamping around Gostov's wrist. But before he could act in any way - mostly anger based on Nora's behalf and his own damn levels of diminishing patience towards the cat - he heard a familiar voice.


Amber eyes flickering over in Soren's direction, he wished he could spare the rabbit more than an apologetic look for getting into this situation.


Geez, his face hurt; and not just from the solid punch he had gotten not even a minute prior.


~~


It was thanks to Soren’s quick reflexes that the man was able to dive sideways and protect himself from the bullets that were fired in his direction. “Tsk…” Great, he had to bump into this fool right here in all of the places. Gostov was pissed. “Alright, change of plans” The man’s head tilted up to stare at a glass rectangle that was on the elevator’s roof. He growled and extended his hand upwards to point his gun in that direction; The glass shattered and it came raining down to the floor. Gostov’s red eyes glanced at the beat up mouse to shoot him a quick smirk, before—With a giant leap- the cat eared grabbed onto the edges of the small fire exit and scurried out of the metal box.


Soren had his silver gun in his hands now, and raised it in front of him when he slapped a hand in between the doors so they would open again. But Gostov was gone, leaving a weak Cyrus there and a bunch of shattered glass on the floor. His eyes trailed up the wall to fall right on that hole in the ceiling. “Shit…That bastard…” It’s not like he wasn’t glad that Gostov had decided to save his ass and run away instead of risking his life, leaving Cyrus behind... but this fucker was RIGHT there! No, no time for that…





“Cyrus” Soren kneeled down, taking the male’s chin with his fingers to make his companion look at him, “Are you ok? Are you hurt?” He asked while his blue eyes scanned his body. “Listen to me Cyrus, I have to go after that man. I need you to find a way out of the hotel and call for reinforcements. You hear me?”


~~


His lungs hurt; they were switching to that mode.


Blinking feverishly, Cyrus tried to focus on the rabbit's face, his brow furrowed with concentration. Once it all blurred together, he grabbed onto Soren's arm. "I'm... I'm fine.."


Groaning, he forced himself to properly sit up, using the older male for a sort of support. "I'll call reinforcements," the mouse confirmed with a nod, soon focusing on Soren's face, "But I'm not going anywhere; did you find Eleanor? Is she okay?"


As he waited for an answer, Cyrus tried to stand. Damn that Gostov... He hit hard and it pissed him off; it pissed him off even more that he himself was so small and weak in comparison.


Well, as he was right now. If he could help it, Cyrus wanted to avoid slipping from his current standing.


"Where's David?" the raven pressed, "What's the new situation?"


He looked towards the hole of shattered glass, jaw clenching.


~~


“I followed David up here…We bumped into each other in the elevator when I was going up to get food. I was going back to our room after I heard somebody tal—“ For the love of…Fuck! Without another word, Soren stood and took some quick steps to the outside of the elevator, peeking down the hall; The door of the fire stair way was left open. They didn’t have much time! Soren had to go…NOW! “Call reinforcements!” He said and dashed down the hall, leaving Cyrus inside the stopped elevator.


Soren got to the stairwell just in time to hear the sound of an echoing door closing above. He ran over to the railing and tried to see if he caught sight of somebody, but they were gone. The white haired man couldn’t waste another second. That second could mean either success or failure, and Soren really hated losing.


The rabbit took a breath and, again, dashed for it. According to the blueprints, there was nothing else above floor 23 apart from the roof…meaning nobody should be going up there apart from the staff…Or maybe some delinquents running from the law.


~~





As if he could just ignore his orders. Cyrus shot to his feet as fast as his body would let him, whipping out his phone and quickly sending out a call. There really wasn't much explaining that needed to be done, thankfully, so in moments the mouse was informed that reinforcements were already on their way.


Good.





Where the hell is Nora!?


Even if the thought was wrapping itself around his head countless times, he couldn't dwell on it just yet. With any luck, there was no need to worry.


No way in hell was he going to stand idly by while Soren ran off to catch up with Gostov; especially not after Cyrus had been the reason the action was so delayed. Snapping his phone shut and storing it away, the raven booked it for the stairwell.


~~


Normally, the roof top door was always kept locked. But the lock had been broken and now layed on the floor. Soren didn’t expect his hairs to wildly ruffle about when he opened that door, his eyes widening when they fell on a helicopter descending towards the flat-roof top. Somebody from inside let one of those foldable ladders roll off the open door of the aircraft, letting it hang there for the people below to take. It wasn’t only Gostov and David, they were accompanied by about five more people; Soren recognized that receptionist from before among them…And so that bitch knew.


To be honest, it was at that moment that Soren asked himself, ‘What the hell do I do now?’ There was a helicopter in-front of him and two rebels along with their armed bodyguards were, one by one, climbing up the ladder.


Gostov blinked back, turning his body to stare back at Soren; That irritating smile was slapped on his face, challenging the rabbit male with just his mare stare. Soren couldn’t move….What…what COULD he do?


~~


If Soren couldn't move, well, good thing the mouse behind him could. A smaller weight brushed against him for a small moment, raven hair ripping back as Cyrus sprinted pass with literally all of his might. Everyone that had been lined up on the rooftop - including Gostov and David - started leaving the ground, climbing up the dropped ladder. For a moment, Soren would catch a glimpse of a beautiful mouse-eared girl with rose hair and honey eyes being forced to go up with them; it was easy to assume that she was Eleanor.


By the time she had climbed into he helicopter - the rest of the individuals quickly joining her up there - her head whipped around, eyes widening as they focused on the running raven as a call seemed to sound against the chop of helicopter blades---


"NORA!!"


Cyrus' voice tore from his throat, arm reaching to snag onto the lowered ladder. But it was ripped from his fingertips, retracting into the safety of the helicopter. As much as he hated it, the mouse was having a hard time seeing through the angered blurred that filled his sight. "Give her back you bastards!" he roared, drawing the black gun from his belt.


But there was nowhere he could shoot that would change anything.


If it had appeared like he was just calling to the captive with a shortened version of her name, the way that the girl struggled had to prove otherwise. Eleanor - or Nora, as the case would have it - tried to leap from the fast rising helicopter; there had been no hesitation in this action, and the only reason she didn't was because of the bodyguards that grabbed onto her and held her back. As she, Gostov, David, and their whole group of henchmen became out of reach, Cyrus heard Nora call to him.


But by that point, there was nothing he could do, standing in the middle of the roof with his fists clenched at his sides and his head directed towards the dark sky.


~~


The helicopter was gone.


He was proven to be useless after all. Not being able to stop any of them, nor even do…anything for that matter. Soren just watched the black aircraft until it became a faint, black dot in the horizon; He could feel Gostov’s eyes burning into his even if miles broke them apart. Mark his words, this wasn’t going to be how the story ended. He’ll search for those two bastard until he had them behind bars so Soren could look at Gostov with the same eyes as before.


Everything fell into a deep silence. Not even the wind made a sound. Even to this moment, Soren didn’t know who Eleanor was. Though by now, it was obvious she was somebody with great importance to the mouse. That whole scene was the proof. Screw reinforcements and this whole thing, the bottom line—It had been a failure. No, a total embarrassment and a waste of time. Disappointment in himself was too little to describe how Soren felt at the moment, especially after realizing that slave they were carrying had been one of Cyrus’s acquaintances.





“…….” Soren closed his eyes. “We should go” There was no use in staying there. Now they had to be questioned by Wonderland’s generals and possibly scolded for doing many things wrong. Guess Soren made mistakes as well…Guess he wasn’t perfect. Or simply weak.


He was hesitant to approach the raven head, but he did so, placing a hand on his shoulder. Would apologizing even be valid right now?...Why would Soren even apologize in the first place? He didn’t know, but he felt he had to. It was his fault Cyrus was here, feeling whatever he was feeling. ‘If only I could have been better…I could have saved your friend’


~~


"We should go."





They should go... He wanted to go. Go where? He had no idea, he just wanted his feet to move, to take him away from the hotel and back home; under the highway for all he cared. However Cyrus remained silent, his body begging to crumple into a mess on the floor.


When Soren touched his shoulder, the mouse flinched to attention, wide eyes lowering themselves from the heavens above. Even though he focused ahead this time, there were so many thoughts in his head. "S-sorry.." he muttered hoarsely, "You would've caught up to him had I not gotten in the way..." Turning his head, Cyrus looked up and gave the rabbit a smile - a smile he didn't know was so broken. "It's my fault," he forced out, "so I'll gladly take full responsibility.."


If he hadn't made Soren worry about his well-being or linger to explain the situation, Nora would still be in their grasp; one way or another.


He felt like a really crappy Rookie at this point.


With slightly trembling movements, the mouse tucked the gun away before letting his head hang, trying to keep himself collected with slow, deep breaths.


Men don't cry. That wasn't how it worked!


Then he was a kid again, small droplets falling from under his bangs, pittering against the concrete.


~~


Sigh…


When was the last time Soren cried? Has it been when he found out his family sold him? No…It was a little later than that. Yes, that’s right. He remembered. Cyrus’s tears made him remember the time he actually broke down and cried until his eyes were soaked dry. The memory itself was impacting for him, not pleased with the waves of sadness and desperation that flowed through him when he was transported back into that memory—Just for a second so small, nobody could have noticed his hesitation.


He guessed, that girl had been important. At least enough to make tears roll down his cheeks.





“…….”


The white haired male crouched down, glancing up at the eyes that were trying to hide behind a curtain of hair. A fresh blood stain was still pooled under his nose, so Soren raised his thumb and swiped it away; Only the blood. “Wipe your tears away, Cyrus. Eleanorisn’t dead, we’ll find her…” He paused, “There is hope. You only cry when there isn’t” And that was him being supportive. He didn’t want to say ‘It’s ok’ or ‘Don’t worry’ Because Soren didn’t actually know if things WERE going to be ok in the first place. But he could assure Cyrus that she was alive—He had seen her just now. And as long as that girl is, there was a way to get to her.


The man stood and placed a hand over his black locks of hairs, giving them a gentle stroke down before he turned around and begun walking to the door. People were already paging his phone, which meant Wonderland was here.


~~


"There is hope. You only cry when there isn't."





That made him stop right there, eyes widening as those words made a home in his chest. Oh how he wished someone had said that to him when he was growing up. Or maybe he already knew them at the time...


Soren gave his head a pat, the mouse's raising his hands to wipe clear his eyes. They'd find Nora at one point and, somehow, he could believe that.


With a final huff of breath, he exhaled into the air before turning on his heel and jogging after the rabbit, slowing to match his pace only when they were side by side. Cyrus buried his hands in his pant pockets, shrugging his shoulders before looking up at Soren. He made a face that was greatly accompanied by a smile. "I think I've got some explaining to do," he said then, "At least after...you know, whatever the hell comes next."


He'd have to thank him, too. That was kinda important.


~~





It wasn’t long before wonderland agents found them. The police had closed up the hotel, labeling it as a ‘terrorist attack’ which was absolutely bullshit if you asked him. What, they were afraid to tell the world about what truly happen? Just because they didn’t want people to get involved? Humans were sometimes little pieces of shit.


The two were taken back into headquarters for questioning. You know, that usual crap—What did you see? Where did you go? How did this happen? Where were you at this time? Why weren’t you here-there? Why didn’t you follow this protocol and etc. It took all night. By the time Soren was released, his mind was blank with exhaustion again, remembering he was only able to sleep for 2 hours. His eyes stung and guess what, he was hungry again. But the man was too…Upset to gather his energies and walk to the kitchen. Nobody would be too cheery after being scolded by the generals. After all, he had taken an inexperienced member with him, and Cyrus could have been killed in the process. It was only thanks to Gostov’s selfish decision that Cyrus was ok…Otherwise… “This is your first warning, Mr.Connell. Don’t ever act on your own without our permission”


“Yes sir”


He recalled the overwhelming desire of wanting to punch everybody in that damned room on the face. He was just irritated, mainly because he failed. A sore loser in his lowest of times.


Soren didn’t particularly blame Cyrus—It was HIS fault. Repaying the favor had been more important at that time, not thinking about the consequences or the outcomes that could have possibly gone wrong. Only one positive thing came out from this. And that was the information that Cyrus was probably spilling right now. There was no doubt that the mouse was going to get interrogated after what happened back there. Especially since the victim was directly related to him—Now he knew. It was a mystery to Soren why Cyrus didn’t tell him in the first place though…


Guess he didnt trust him enough.


~~


Blah blah blah this, blah blah blah that. He wanted to die.


The mouse answered their questions to the best of his abilities, but some of them held details that only the experienced would know how to answer; so he sat there like an idiot for a good bit of time. Get this - he even got scolded for dragging a Wonderland spy into personal matters!


Because he tooooootally meant for this to happen. Hell, he didn't even know that Nora was in the area to begin with...


Stepping out of the room, at first glance it was sort painfully obvious that Cyrus was lacking his usual glow; his head was lowered, his gaze was cold, his features had fallen, even his hair looked dull. Everything about him had taken on a personal gray cloud.


All because it sucked. Like it really did.


But it didn't last long, the mouse slapping his own cheeks with his lightly scarred hands a few times. It was like motivation if you will, and it seemed to work well enough because he no longer allowed himself to look so damn depressed. There was literally no point to it after all.


Rubbing at his nose for a brief moment, he decided he was going to splash his face with water or something, just to wash everything away. He may or may not have completely missed the white haired male on accident.


~~


Hm? Oh, guess they let Cyrus go too—Soren thought when his eyes finally moved up from the floor, just to spot a familiar raven head. They kept him in for quite the time too…poor guy. Sore knew the feeling. Actually, he was feeling the feeling right now.


Soren stopped, his lips opening to release some words, but the mouse walked right pass him…As if he wasn’t even there. That was a little shocking…Was he mad? Did those people do something to him? Actually, the normal Soren wouldn’t care. He would shrug his shoulders and keep on walking, figuring it wasn’t even his business now that Cyrus was back. But this Soren remembered those weeping eyes, crying for that person that had been so close…yet so far from his fingertips. Something…Something in his heart twisted with a string of guilt—and perhaps concern for the black haired male. It’s just…It reminded him of himself.





“Cyrus—“ His call was firm, wanting to catch’s the mouse attention. Soren turned around and took those missing steps from the male. “…Is everything ok?"


~~


"...Is everything ok?"





At the call, poor Cyrus nearly jumped three feet into the air, whirling around with wide eyes and a hand on his chest. "Holy CRAP!" he exclaimed, staggering back from shock before he would regain his balance. Taking a moment to examine Soren's face with his amber orbs, he soon relaxed and allowed his hand to fall to his side.


Well, for only a moment because soon it raised again to give a thumbs up. "All good!" he responded, beaming at the older male.


"....You know, aside from the whole possibly broken nose thing or whatever--"


But that part was added with an indifferent shrug.


When his hands tucked back behind him, Cyrus rose on the balls of his feet. "What about you? Everything okay? You look tired-- Need something to eat before you crash? I'm sure you're tired."


The only reason he wouldn't shut up was because he needed a distraction; anything to keep him busy was a god damn miracle. Cyrus held onto his smile like it was a life raft, as if he would literally drown in his own agonizing thoughts before anything good would come.


What a damn waste...


~~


If you were to look at the hallway they were standing on, Cyrus’s side almost created the illusion of sunshine and rainbows, while Soren’s side was a frozen mountain from Alaska. Soren wasn’t smiling, or beaming, or giving people thumbs up. You could clearly tell the man was tired, not even bothering to hide it. His offer was so tempting, stomach almost screaming in acceptance, but Soren shook his head, “You must be tired….because you just said tired twice” His lips pulled up into a smile. A small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. They were sad, discontent, and almost…angry.


He took some steps closer.





“Thank you for coming with me today”


~~


Wait... He said tired twice? Okay, whoops! Maybe he really was tired.. Which would make sense and all, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Either way, while he assumed that Soren's smile meant that he was amused, but it concerned the mouse that it didn't...well, reach any other part of him.


Uh oh, that was no good.





“Thank you for coming with me today”


As the rabbit stepped closer, Cyrus had to tilt his head back even more so that the damn Titan wouldn't tower out of his lowered sight. It confused him that Soren felt the need to thank him - sincere or not, he currently couldn't tell - because he hasn't really done anything worth thanks.


Shrugging his shoulders lightly, the raven rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, no..." he tried to say, "It's no problem.."


It's my fault it went wrong... But there was really no way he could say that; he already had anyways, and it wasn't like Soren wanted to hear it again and again endlessly.


~~


"Ah, no….It's no problem…" He bet Cyrus was trying to figure out why he had said those words. Maybe someday he’ll tell him. “Go rest now, today was a long day” Not wanting to keep the mouse lingering around for much longer, Soren nodded his farewells and turned. By now, everybody were most likely sleeping in their rooms, considering how late it was. He only wished to do the same. Though reaching for that key that was in his pocket had been the hardest task he had to do all night. Shaky fingers were quite difficult to control, especially when trying to insert a key in a simple lock.


Was his vision failing him, or was he seeing double?


Oh yeah, Soren definitely needed to sleep. He had to blink a few times and shake his head to make his eyesight focus on the lock, finally jamming the key in its place. The door closed with a soft click, not bothering to even lock it again because he honestly didn’t care. Nobody entered the spies’ rooms anyways, it was like their own little safe place where wonderland wasn’t allowed to reach.


A cool, quiet and dark safe place with a comfortable bed waiting for him.


~~






The long, exhausting night finally ended, bringing on yet another day. . .


During the earlier hours of the morning, not a creature was stirring; except for a mouse. Cyrus had moved some things out of his room and placed them on the coffee table. His possessions ranged from papers and pens to a shoebox of old letters, and a collection of stamps and envelopes, all scattered about in organized piles.


For now anyways.


Seating himself in the warmly upholstered chair, the raven grabbed a pair of black framed, lense-less glasses from the shoebox and put them on with only one motion. They had been a gift from his little brother Max, who got them out of concern.


You often complained about your eyes hurting, so we got you some glasses to help! Be sure to use them!


--was what his letter had read. Even though Cyrus didn't need glasses - his eyesight was pretty good, actually - he had held onto them, popping out the lenses and wearing the frames whenever he could. It was comforting, really, and made him smile every time he remembered why he even had them - he mostly wore them when he would write his letters.


Which was exactly what he was doing now, grabbing the first sheet of paper in the pile and the first fancy pen within his reach.


It was hard to keep up with the usual sending-date, and everyone he maintained contact with already knew this; but damn did he try, they all did. It was the funniest thing, really, how they all had fake names and different mailboxes (like a PO box or whatever was offered in their area).


The raven's fake name was Andrew Carson, and he used the post office in the area. Sure it was quite the adventure to get there and all, but it was well worth it.


So he addressed the first letter to a certain "Matty Horton", the youngest of the family. Cyrus wasn't going to mention Nora or the events that had unfolded that night - this was his distraction after all.


Around mid-morning, with four letters done and papers littering his space, the mouse went to the kitchen and cooked up breakfast. He wasn't exactly hungry himself, but he still made his favorite peaches and cream oatmeal; if you said you hated it, he'd probably bite you. By the time it was officially finished an hour had already passed, so he left it in the hot pot to keep warm.


Maybe he'd get a bowl later...


Leaving it alone for the time being, Cyrus went back to his chair and just situated himself upside down, head hanging off of the seat and legs dangling over the top. Papers in his hand - some new, some old - were held in front of his face, amber orbs scanning the words carefully. At one point, his shirt slipped down to his face, briefly exposing the rather horrendous scars that littered his abdomen before he yanked the shirt back into place.


Like hell he needed to catch a cold! Speaking of which, why was the base so cold??


Or maybe the floor was cold and he was too close to it... Oh well, it didn't matter. Chewing on the arm of his frames out of habit, the mouse went to work writing a few more letters, pen scratching against the paper in his silence.


~~


It was now the beginning of the afternoon, past 12. Considering the time he had gone to bed last night, this was quite the early time to wake up. But there was something inside of Soren that just didn’t let him go back to sleep—Something inside his mind that stirred him awake.


It wasn’t usual for him to have nightmares. Or well, he just didn’t call them that anymore. He preferred to describe it as re-living unwanted events that were supposed to be tucked inside the deepest part of your memory. Only that they came out to haunt you in a more artistic and illustrative way. This time, the one that didn’t have a face was him. This time, he recognized the people who sat at that table; Laughing, smiling, eating. But he just sat there, unable to even whisper a word because he didn’t have any lips. Unable to hear because he had no ears. Unable to cry, because he had no eyes. They all knew he was there but none of them made an effort to direct a word at the little, faceless boy sitting in the corner. None of them looked at him.


He had given up writing about it a long time ago, leaving the small book besides him on the bed. After that, Soren couldn’t go back to sleep and kept staring at the ceiling for hours. You would think he would get bored, but when your mind isn’t quite there with you, the shell is what its left behind. What had managed to get a reaction out of the man was the message that made the phone on the table vibrate. Just Wonderland sending him reports…It’s not like he cared.





Grooooowll……


But his stomach did. Taking the opportunity that the man had finally come to his senses to release a loud growl in protest. The last meal he had eaten had been that stew, and that was long gone. It actually hurt. It wasn’t that mild feeling that made you walk to the refrigerator and think about what you wanted. It was the feeling of weakness and dizziness that made him want to stay in his bed forever. But he needed to eat.


Closing the book, Soren grabbed it and tucked it under his pillow. Maybe that’s why he was always having those dreams. They were kept under his head, after all, but you couldn’t blame the man for feeling security in leaving it there. They were, in spite of everything, his most precious experiences.


After he managed to slowly walk to the bathroom and wash up, the man dressed himself. He wasn’t planning on going anywhere today. He needed to take a day off. What he would do was over his head, for he’ll begin by making his way over to the kitchen. However, his soft steps halted at the entrance of the living room, noticing some legs dangling over the top of one of the many cushioned chairs. Then he glanced at a mess of papers, envelopes, pens and a bunch of others things scattered on the coffee table. Well, the base was surely lively today. Some other members were also walking down the hall, or sitting at the kitchen table.


Though getting food was his priority, deciding to just ignore the sight for now. The rabbit hoped there was some kind of refreshment or something that he could quickly grab in the kitchen. Wonderland didn’t have a chef or anything like that, even though sometimes they did bring people to cook for the agents. But it was mostly a do-your-own thing system. It sucked, especially when you were clueless about cooking.


“Oh, hey, you can grab some of that oatmeal over there. A member made it” Soren was already known as a culinary disaster. The first day he lit a fire on the oven trying to cook some eggs…So yes, people tended to either share with him or tell him to take from something when they saw him. It was absolutely embarrassing, but he was too hungry to inwardly care about it. Soren just grabbed a bowl and served himself, going back out to take a seat near the fake fire place. It was then—right when he rounded the couch, that a familiar face coming into view. The person responsible for those dangling legs. “What are you doing?” –So early in the morning, the white haired man was going to add, but he forgot that it wasn’t even morning. He was glad to see him up and running though, even after what happened yesterday.


~~


His expression didn't hold much surprise this time around, when Soren seemingly appeared from bloody nowhere - but his eyes did widen. The black frames caught between his teeth fell to the floor when he opened his mouth, lips curling into a smile. "Morning!" Cyrus greeted, waving with both hands before stretching and putting the final letter and pen down on the coffee table by his face before responding with, "Just writing letters." After a bit of awkward scrambling, the mouse righted himself and let the expression stretch to a grin.


He pointed at the bowl, head tilted slightly."You don't mind peaches rig-- Wait! You don't like sweet stuff!" Everything about him seemed to fall in defeat, even though he actually jumped to his feet and stood in front of the rabbit. "That's peaches and cream," the raven clarified, quickly stooping to pick up his 'glasses' and place them back on his face, "I can make you something else that's not as sweet; maybe an omelet or something?"


Back to the pointless ranting - even though his attitude suggested that this was faaaaar more important than what he was already doing. And anything that he could preoccupy himself with was good.


~~


“You don't mind peaches rig-- Wait! You don't like sweet stuff!"





“…………..”


"That's peaches and cream. I can make you something else that's not as sweet; maybe an omelet or something?"


Soren’s head slowly moved up to blankly stare at Cyrus. A long, intense stare with blue yes narrowed in suspicion. “How do you know I don’t like sweet stuff?” Did he ever tell Cyrus that? Because if he did, Soren didn’t remember. He was really paranoid about his personal information—For no reason. Though maybe he did and he was just too sleepy still to remember? Unless Soren told you himself, he didn’t want anybody knowing things about him. It made him feel weak and on a disadvantage…Which is why he wanted to catch Gostov as soon as possible. That man knows too much…Freaking cat.


~~


"How do you know I don't like sweet stuff?"





The mouse pouted in response, arms crossing over his chest. "How do I know?" he repeated, brows furrowed lightly, "Because when I asked you what you wanted last time, you said nothing sweet so I just assumed."


Of course he remembered (even if it was just a day ago that Soren had said it).


Turning away from the rabbit, Cyrus snatched up a letter with only the "Dear Whoever" written at the top of it. "Did you want something else or are you fine with just that?" he questioned.


Geez, the man didn't have to be suspicious of him; he hadn't done anything to be suspicious of! Well, except kept his sister's identity a secret and all, but that was beside the point.


Probably.


~~


"How do I know? Because when I asked you what you wanted last time, you said nothing sweet so I just assumed."





Right, yeah Cyrus assumed correctly. Why was he so jumpy this morning?…Just fucking eat, Soren’—He thought. With a shake of his head, the rabbit picked up the spoon and just ate the oatmeal. He was too hungry to be picky, or to wait. Right now, the not-liking-sweets thing was an exception.





“So, why are you writing letters?” It seemed like such a random thing to do. They had the internet now. But his question was meant to start the conversation back up again. Cyrus’s presence relieved him. After having that nightmare, any human contact or company warmed the cold, lonely feeling still lingering in his heart.


~~


Smiling lightly now that the situation/case had passed, Cyrus sat down in his seat again, legs crossed beneath him. When Soren asked about the purpose of the letters, the smile grew but a colder light darkened his amber eyes. "Letters," the mouse started with, "feel safer than emails.. Plus it's fun to send them and get one back."


Lifting his head slightly, Cyrus nodded at the shoebox then the collection of completed letters around him. "You probably don't care," the mouse commented, "since it's personal and all, but I'm writing back to my siblings."


He didn't say family, since there was no way in hell he'd write to his parents. Of course, who would know that, right? Shrugging, he reached for another pen.


~~


How insensitive of Cyrus to think he didn’t care. Partially, he didn’t. But right now he did, very much, and even if it was none of his business, Soren wanted the younger male to keep talking. That’s just how he got after his episodes, yearning to get close to somebody, to feel safe, to feel needed—A curse that his damned family had created inside of him. Because inside, Soren was really just a lonely person, but he was too proud to admit that.





“…Tell me…about your siblings” He said between chews, looking up at the mouse. So far, he was enjoying the oatmeal. It was delicious. Maybe this was the only way to get him to eat sweets, starving to death first.


~~


“…Tell me…about your siblings”





Woah. WOAH. Was the super cold, considerably anti-social Soren actually asking him to rant?? That was definitely a first.


His surprise undoubtedly showed on his features, amber eyes wide in disbelief as the raven would remove the glasses and set the paper down, pen completely forgotten. "Huh..."


But how much of a rant was he really going to force the rabbit through.


"Well..." Cyrus started with slowly, resting his chin in his palm as he stared off thoughtfully in Soren's direction. Really, even he felt weird when he got calm like this. "There's maybe fourteen of us excluding myself," he spoke, "or at least that's how many of us there were when we left. I'm the oldest, Nora - Eleanor, whatever - was the second oldest. Twins are a common occurrence in my family, you know, so the reason we had so many of us running around when I was sixteen was because they were twins."


Closing his eyes, the male laughed lightly - almost to himself. "Damn little duplicates..."


Opening his eyes again, it continued to amaze him that he could remember all of their real names and their secret names. The mouse waved the empty frames at Soren, a nostalgic, mildly sorrowful smile on his face. "My little brother Max sent me these three years ago," he commented a bit randomly, "all because I had made a comment about my eyes hurting."


He lowered them into his lap and examined the hard edges, slender fingers running against the smooth surface in a rhythmic way. "I swear, he's goofier than I am and it's the greatest thing... He's like a little ball of light that always makes you warm, and keeps you safe against the dragon..."


No favoritism or anything, but he liked Max the most.


"But I think you would've liked Maggie," Cyrus went on to say, lifting his head with a lighter smile as he looked at the older male again, "She liked to keep to herself and hated being bothered.. Really, she's the strong and silent type; the type I can't help but admire. She and Max are somewhere off in the Southern islands of the East - I can't say where."


For the sake of breathing and poor Soren's ears, the raven paused there.


But on the inside, he was hating himself for forcing the siblings and twins to split apart. Even if it was for their own safety, it still killed him... It was his fault that they had to live far away from the place they called home for a long time, and the reason they couldn't be them.


None of them complained in their letters, only listening to him and his problems - even though he scarcely mentioned his own - smiling and writing cheerful things all the while. They really made him love life and hate living all at the same time... How ridiculous.


He was a bit unaware of it himself, but his smile fell a bit in energy and size. Though when he did notice, Cyrus only shrugged it off.


~~


It wasn’t until some seconds in that Soren begun to regret asking about his family. It felt horrible. The small smile that had previously been on his face had slowly fallen into pure blankness, leaving no trace of it behind. Even his eyes seemed empty, but luckily they were hidden by his white hair as he looked down at his oatmeal.


The rabbit only wished he could say the same about his brothers and sisters. Honestly, he felt more and more envious as Cyrus’s story went on. The normal Soren wouldn’t care, he would shrug off the feeling and tuck it at the back of his mind. He would carelessly eat his food and get on with his day. But this Soren gripped the spoon tightly, forcing his hand back from trembling every time he brought it up to his lips. He swallowed the burning knot in his throat and slowly nodded to let the mouse know he was listening. This Soren’s lips twitched and his began to burn at the back of his head—Yes, he regretting asking.


Even to this day, it hurt to realize that—all of his life, he had lived with strangers. Those faceless beings that he saw time after time in his dreams. Soren didn’t know their birthdays, nor what they were like, or their taste in music, or their favorite food…He didn’t know anything, nor remember feeling anything towards any of them. Can you imagine how it feels to find out your family betrayed you? That…that they sold you for a few hundred of bucks, like some cattle? Even after all these years, his heart still stirred with sadness. Wasn’t he supposed to get over it? No, this Soren wasn’t over it. This Soren was that small child who was frightened at the world and who just wished somebody would give him a hug and tell him over, and over that they needed him. That he was worth it.





"—But I think you would've liked Maggie. She liked to keep to herself and hated being bothered.. Really, she's the strong and silent type; the type I can't help but admire. She and Max are somewhere off in the Southern islands of the East - I can't say where."


“Yeah…Yeah I think I would have liked her too” Soren managed to croak out, placing the spoon inside the empty bowl of food. The man licked his lips and moved his eyes up to look at Cyrus; He had to change the subject. Now. “Thanks for the food, it was really good... I owe you again”


~~


This time, it was Cyrus' turn to take extremely good notice of Soren's change in attitude and behavior. His brows furrowed lightly, watching the rabbit with considerable care. But he tried his best to keep the smile going, tilting his head slightly. "No need to thank me," the mouse said, "Or, you know, return the favor."


He rose, reaching a hand out to take the bowl from Soren. After all this talk, part of him screamed that he should talk about what they escaped from, the shit they've seen and why they had fake names - all of it. But what good would that do anyone, right?


There was, however, one more thing he could think to do to maybe...relieve Soren of whatever it was he was feeling. It really wasn't much, and chances are it wouldn't do anything but....


"Hey, Soren? What do you like?"


~~


-MISSED SOREN'S RESPONSE IDK HOW-


Okay, maybe his next comment was a little bold; continuing to hold Soren's gaze, a grin stretched across the raven's face. "That's super cute," he said, beaming at the man, "The picnic thing."


With a small chuckle to himself, Cyrus leaned against the chair, arms crossing over his chest.





"...And you?"


"Oh you know-" The mouse waved a hand in front of his face. "-music, cooking, reading, and gardening. Gardening is fun as hell."


His gaze traveled to the letters, lingering on them for a moment as his smile softened. "And mail," he added, "Mail is fun to get.."


Quickly moving on to the next sort of "topic", Cyrus grinned at the rabbit. "You and I should have a drink sometime!" he stated matter-o-factly, before conveniently adding - with a very smug tone; "If you can guess my age~"


That was the fun part. Really, he looked nothing like his actual age but he already hinted that he wasn't sixteen. Muweheheh...


~~


-casually skips a part because of an awkward break-


“Well, you said it yourself. The goal of the game is to guess” How do you like it fired back? He couldn’t help it and besides, it wasn’t bad to joke around once in a while...He needed it. Having a frown on your face all the time was bad and it maybe it could stay on permanently if he didn’t relax his face at least a few times a week. And he couldn’t just…not smile at that. Cyrus was certainly amusing. “Let me give you a clue though, I’m certainly older than you” He was twenty-three…Cyrus did not look like a twenty three year old. He looked younger, though not past 17. Guess he had that gift, or curse—depending on how he looked at it.


~~


Let me give you a clue though, I'm certainly older than you."





Well putting it that way made the guy sound like a god damn dinosaur. Cyrus tilted his head as he looked over the rabbit, trying to identify whatever age he was. Well, he clearly wasn't twenty-three, so that was a start. By no means did Soren look old, but when someone uses the word "certainly" it can really get confusing.


"Um... Twenty-nine?" the mouse tried, not exactly wanting to possibly insult him by saying a straight thirty. Because no one wants to be thirty.


~~


His lips twitched, wanting to let out a little chuckle. Cyrus’s little confused face was hilarious. “Nope…take away four and you get?” Soren blinked, one of his white ears folding slightly, and the other one straightened up, as if telling him ‘Well?'


~~


"Oh god not math!" he exclaimed in mild anguish, looking like he was about to drop his possessions. Though when he recovered from his little "scene", Cyrus maintained a smile on his face. "So, twenty-five... You're tall as hell."


As he would shrug his shoulders and move for the hall, the mouse looked back with a sort of smug expression. "I look forward to our date, sir~"


God he hoped that Soren would get drunk, just so he could see how he behaved.


~~





Date? Well that certainly made Soren’s eyebrow raise in interest. Who said anything about a date? Perhaps his little mouse friend was misunderstanding…But it’s not like he cared enough to correct him.


The mouse had collected all of his possession and placed them all back in the shoe box. And when he turned and started walking to the hall, Soren had a deep desire to pull him back and beg him to stay here for a while. At least until he calmed down a bit more. But the other Soren frowned down at that idea and just smiled back at him and let him go. He had things to do as well—Paperwork and boring grown up stuff. “…ah!” He suddenly remembered, “You can come around eight or nine. I’ll be in my room…11.” Soren called out to the raven head before he got too far, standing up from his chair.


Since he wasn’t assigned any mission, or planned to go out on patrol, Soren walked back to his room. It was a complete dark cave, since he had dark curtains over the windows. He hated sunlight or any kind of light entering his room when sleeping. Even those little small ones inside the cable box or the red light that indicated the TV was off, irked him and prevented him from sleeping. Soren had to place something over them to stop their radiating annoyance from showing. It was just a strange habit, one that formed back when he was just a child. His room had been all the way down in the basement, where there were no windows or any sort of escape the light could flow in from. So after many years of living like that, his body got used to it.


Though he didn’t hesitate to push the curtains apart and let the light shine through the window. He wasn’t going to sleep until late tonight.


And so the man walked to his desk and sat down, eyeing the pile of folders and paperwork he needed to go through. They were all about human organizations, training manuals, humans they were looking for, old cases he wanted to study, and things of the sort. But in front of him laid an open, unfinished sketch that he had been working on a few nights before. Another piece connected to his dreams, because honestly, Soren’s dreams were his biggest inspiration. This time, it was a picture of a tree—the Yggdrasil. According to mythology, the Yggdrasil is the tree of life. An eternal green Ash tree; The branches of Yggdrasil extend far into the heavens, and the tree is supported by three roots that extend far away into other locations. It had been a very beautiful image in his head, but right now, it was just an incomplete memory.


Soren hated leaving things half-assed, and it was going to bother him if he where to close the sketchbook and leave it like that. So he shook his head, opening a drawer where a bunch of pencils of different colors and sizes came into view. His fingers moved through them until he found the one he was looking for. A blue, 2B drawing pencil.


~~


In the sort of "safety" of his room, the mouse got to work with completing his letters; the ones that were completed were sealed in envelopes with x-amount of stamps on each one. Once he had a stack on his small, dark wooded desk, he spent an entire hour writing one addressed to Nora.


There was no real point to it.. Perhaps he was just caught in routine, or maybe it was a sort of cry for fantasy - his sister wasn't gone sort of thing. But he wrote about the usual things, this time including Soren. Really, who wouldn't? The rabbit was Cyrus' first "friend" in Wonderland, so like a kid in middle school, he just gushed all of his thoughts about him onto paper. Chances were Nora wouldn't see it for quite a while.


But on the off chance she that did....


Cyrus sealed her letter as well, eventually pushing himself away from the desk and flopping down on his bed. The silence that engulfed him in that moment was agonizing; it suffocated him, opening the door of his thoughts and subdued memories so that they could completely destroy him from the inside out.


That was only an exaggeration, of course - or he liked to think it was.


Quickly yanking open his drawer, the mouse fished out his small MP3 player, red headphones, and the Moby Dick book with a limited addition cover. There was a silky blue book mark around the 68% mark of the pages, and that was what it was opened to.


Distractions, distractions... Distractions were fun and nice. Turning on the album he had set to play - a collection of piano and cello pieces, if you could believe that - he tried to preoccupy himself with reading for the following hours to come.


It was around 8:15 that he left his room, running a hand through his soft raven hair. His steps were light as he traveled down the hall, making minimal noise. Eventually he came to room eleven, stopped in front of the door for a moment.





Back to smiley McGee, he reminded himself, just to be safe.


Then he knocked a jovial tune on Soren's door.


~~


It wasn’t hard to figure out who those knocks belonged to. Soren didn’t get that many visitors.


The man was laying down on his bed, writing down some reports when he heard them. The time had passed by so quickly, that rabbit had to look at his phone and check if the mouse had come a few hours earlier by mistake. But no, it marked a clear ‘8:17pm’. It was normal for him to lose track of time when he concentrated enough in something. “Coming” The man quickly gathered the papers together and sorted them into a quick pile, placing them on his nightstand.


Thankfully, Soren wasn’t a disorganized person so his room was nice enough to welcome guests—Or his guest. He walked to the door and didn’t hesitate to open it, smiling at his friend when he came into view. “Evening, Come in” He said, sidestepping to the side as he held the door open for Cyrus. Once the mouse did so, he gently closed the door and led him further inside. “Go ahead and take a seat, I’ll bring the cups”


The rooms were spacious enough to have a small table in there. Of course, they lacked a kitchen but had some cupboards to store any dry food or snacks. He didn’t like drinking without something to accompany it, so he took out some chips and crackers and placed them on the table. He also grabbed a few limes from the cabinet, placing them on the cutting board. The knife cut through the thick green rind, forcing bitter juice out on the board, chopping the limes into small pieces that could be used as garnishment. “So, tell me, what is your favorite type?”


It was finally time for the grand finale—The drinks, which were stored in four bulky suitcases under his bed. They were quite heavy, so Soren had to drag them out one by one until they all formed a line in front of his bed. “I have…Wine—“ Soren unclipped one suitcase open and gently placed the top of it to the floor. It contained exactly what he said, wine, along with a few glasses. He took out two, placed them in front of Cyrus and moved on to the next. “I got Vodka--“ The suitcase reveling the vodka opened, “Brandy—“ Then the next, “And finally, Beer” And now all four suitcases majestically showed their containings, the man taking a step back so the mouse could choose any that would interest him, “I can also make you a cocktail if you’ll like”


~~


He had barely sat down before the more important piece of the whole thing was brought up;





“So, tell me, what is your favorite type?”


"Um...."


Soren went down the list - and row of suitcases - presenting each one in their respective spots. Frankly, he had no idea someone, just one person, would go through all the trouble of encasing their alcohol in that way.


Though the rabbit had said that he really liked alcohol, so it wasn't entirely random. Maybe.


So, decision making time. After a few moments of thought and staring, Cyrus pointed at the case of brandy. "Gotta be sophisticated somehow," he joked, lifting his gaze to smile at the other. "And thanks, by the way."


Manners too. They were important one way or another.


~~


“Thanks? For what? Thank you for accompanying me tonight” Sore poured Cyrus’s choice of drink into their glasses and gently placed it down on the table besides them. Brandy…Yeah, a good choice to start with.


Soren pulled out a chair and joined the mouse at the table, taking a sip of his own before licking his lips and setting it down. This Brandy was high proof and left a warm feeling in your mouth and stomach as it traveled through. It felt nice, considering how cold it was outside—It was truly heartwarming. The white haired man took a moment to stare at his friend, eyes half lidded with a gentle smile…He only got like this when he tasted alcohol. It was just comforting; He tilted his head, blinking curiously “you know, I never saw you as the type to like alcoholic drinks”


~~


He waved the initially raised hand, responding to the rabbit's question of thanks with; "For having me over and sharing your precious possessions with me." Smiling, Cyrus watched as the man poured their drinks and seated himself, taking up his own glass and enjoying a good swallow.


Okay. Okay. That was some good stuff, he had to say. Smiling to himself, the mouse looked down at the liquid in his glass, swirling it lightly before Soren captured his attention.





"You know, I never saw you as the type to like alcoholic drinks."


Huh? Really? While the comment surprised him, it was mostly because he himself actually drank quite a lot after his initial "recovery". Appearance wise, he knew he looked to peppy and childish to be the drinking type or whatever. But even so-


"Why's that?" Cyrus asked, tilting his head as he took another swig.


~~


“Well—“ The first reason being Cyrus’s appearance…And no, he wasn’t judging. But people tended to create a person’s character according to their look even if you don’t want to admit it. Some people even treated others differently because of that, or favored them. Soren liked to believe that wasn’t his case, but sometimes, he did classify a person from their looks. “I just…Didn’t think you liked it. But I’m glad you do, I needed a drinking partner” Or somebody to keep him company when he was in the lowest of the low, but Soren wasn’t going to actually voice it out that way. He’ll use alcohol as an excuse, just like some other previous times.





“Anyways…” The rabbit cleared his throat, pausing to drink more of his Brandy, “About…Your sister. I have been thinking about it, and I want to get her back.” How could he say this…”…Gostov was an old friend of mine—“ Soren started, “We trained together, or well, he was my senior when I started. That’s the only reason I was in this case. To try and put that traitor in jail after he backstabbed us…Selling his people to humans—Its quite shameful” Another sip… “But that bastard is not very bright. I’m guessing David is the brains…He, I don’t know who he is. Some other man Gostov found to do his dirty work—What I’m getting at here, Cyrus, is that we should try to track down their next step…Because honestly, I don’t think wonderland cares enough about your sister to do anything”


~~


He listened very carefully, silently sipping his drink with a focused expression. When Soren said that he wanted to get Nora back, Cyrus damn near dropped his glass. After all, the mouse hadn't been expecting something like that to fly out of the rabbit's mouth. And then he went on and on in explanation, being considerably thorough in his points. Naturally, the thing about selling their kind to humans struck a little close to home, but he didn't vocalize it. Not yet anyways.


To track their next step... Because no one in Wonderland really cares...


As much as he hated to consider it, chances were the organization just didn't care at all; she was one person. Better to lose one at a time instead of whole entire collectives and such. It made sense, but god did it suck. When the rabbit finally concluded his thought, it was Cyrus' turn to speak.


The mouse lowered his glass, gaze dropping to the substance still remaining at the bottom of the crystal. "Soren..." he tried, lifting his head, "Look, it's nice of you to think so much about it, and actually devise something or other, but you'd probably get in trouble. And it's a personal affair; HQ wouldn't be too happy about that, I just know it."


But he figured he would be able to figure out the first step, at least from... Well, experience.


~~


“Do you think I care?” Soren chuckled, his eyes narrowing, “My job is to track down that man, and I.will.find.him, Cyrus” Those words were said with such firmness and security, there wasn’t even space for a single drop of doubt. But he took a moment to lean back and enjoy the taste of his drink again, deciding to calm down a bit. Soren didn’t want to get too jumpy about it…He just, took things way too personality. And deep down, far, far away…buried in the darkness inside his heart, the man did not want Cyrus to lose his hope.





“…You do want to get your sister back, right?” Even if it meant getting kicked out of wonderland…This was just a job. There were many he could find. But Soren needed to punch that cat across his face and demand answers. He needed to ask him why…why the hell he did that, even after Soren trusted him in such a way. It broke his heart. And the rabbit could just not forgive that.


~~


"More than anything," he responded quickly, grip tightening on his glass before bringing it to his lips again, "Sorry.."


That whole thing about the vocalizing thing? Not even all too long ago - like a literal minute? Yeah, that had to be changed. Already.


Hopefully not much would have to be revealed, but at this point... He owed Soren the truth if he was willing to go so far.


But his glass had emptied and that alone displeased the mouse, pouring a bit more for himself before leaning back, chin on the top of his hand thoughtfully. "Fine," Cyrus said, "Alright. Then, I have a pretty good idea of how to track their steps."


Deep breaths. A sip of brandy.


"I have some particular files with me that I can look through," he proceeded with, "and I'm sure the Wonderland database has plenty on eared trafficking, but even without that stuff... Well, I only need a little bit of thought."


~~


"Excellent” Now that’s what he wanted to hear. It eased his mind just a little bit, and he was able to let out a soft sigh through his nose. He paused, opening his eyes to stare at him, “If you want to taste something else, feel free to take it. It’s boring to drink all of these by myself” And there it was. A smile. He actually meant it this time, too bad he totally ruined it when he grabbed a cracker and ate it. He opened the bag a little more and placed it in the middle of the table, incase Cyrus wanted and was too shy to ask or something. “…One thing though…Do you have any idea how your sister could have ended up with those two?...Bad friends? Bad neighborhood?...”


~~


“…One thing though…Do you have any idea how your sister could have ended up with those two?...Bad friends? Bad neighborhood?...”





Uh oh.


Cyrus gave a small nod of thanks as he snagged a few crackers, soon leaning back again with a cracker in his mouth. He chewed and chewed, sitting in silence for a good bit of the before he finally swallowed and spoke. "One idea," the mouse started with, "is that she's a complete idiot. Another would be family ties."


But that didn't - nor could it - explain anything. Nora had been hidden like the rest of them; the only one to keep their actual name when running around the world was Cyrus himself, but he could handle himself. Maybe she wanted to affiliate herself with traitors so that she could bring them down. If so, it would've been for the raven's sake and that made him want to scream.


"Honestly, it's probably more chance than anything," Cyrus ended up saying, soon lifting his gaze as he would tilt his head. "Would Gostov work as bounty hunter? Or would he fall victim for unintentional bounty hunting? Like, he's too stupid to tell the difference between kidnapping for a different organization and selling a slave on the market?"


~~


Would Gostov work as bounty hunter? Or would he fall victim for unintentional bounty hunting? Like, he's too stupid to tell the difference between kidnapping for a different organization and selling a slave on the market?"





“Honestly? I don’t know” Soren chuckled, scratching his cheek, “I don’t know what that man is thinking any more…” With a sigh, he stood and walked over to the suitcase that contained the god-almighty Vodka. It was his favorite~ The Brandy had been just a starter, now it was time to get to the good stuff. Besides, Soren wanted to change the subject. He hated talking about work while he was drinking—Yeah, alcohol really affected his brain. “But don’t worry, we’ll find them. For now…” He grabbed two glasses and filled them up till midway, handing one to Cyrus, “Try this one. It’s my favorite” For now…He wanted to get his mind off a few things, specially that annoying pressure in his head.