[Sarah]

[Pet Unlocked]
Zli smirked and rested his chin in his hand. Across from him, and bound by a bit of string was Arc. The men were together, alone, and Zli meant to make the most of it. “come now my dear, a festival is on,” he said. The whole city was alive with the sound of merriment. Shops were opened for longer, and had a lot of special items to celebrate the holiday. Arc gave him a dirty look and then went back to ignoring him. Arc never could appreciate how Zli worded things. It wasn’t always sexual, Zli wasn’t that big of an asshole… okay so maybe it was always sexual.

[Sarah]

”If you look any more offended people are going to ask questions,” Zli reminded him, and tugged on the string connecting them.

“I assure you, people are already asking questions,” Arc said, his eyes scrutinizing the crowd. Zli supposed it was just like him to always be watching out for trouble. There was no need, no one would move against them while so many civilians were about. Zli hadn’t met much resistance when he was out and about doing mundane things, and that was without a festival.

[Sarah]

“I must say-“

“Must you?” Arc interrupted, rolling his eyes. For the first time since they’d been together Arc stopped his search and turned his focus on Zli.

Zli sighed, “I guess not.” Perhaps Arc was right, Zli wouldn’t know because the man would not tell him why they were meeting. “How does it feel to be amidst a festival for your brethren?” he asked.

“They are not my brethren,” Arc said. “We are both called Seraphim, and we both come from a place called ‘the vault’, but we are not the same,” he clarified.

[Sarah]

“How does that work?” Zli asked.

“We don’t serve the same gods. We are not even the same species, but for simplification we share many terms,” Arc said. “It is the same with you and dwellers is it not?” he asked.

“No… We are Demons, different from Dwellers and Chaos. I suppose there are others who call themselves Demons, we are different from them in the same way you are allegedly different from other Seraphim,” Zli explained.

[Sarah]

“How does that work?” Arc echoed.

Zli narrowed his eyes at the Fallen. The Archangel knew more about Demons than most Demons did. What was his angle? “We serve Annabelle, and I suppose our ‘Hell’ would be different from theirs. Our powers might differ as well,” Zli said. He couldn’t say he’d ever tried to find another ‘Demon’. He’d been too busy to do anything lately, but he’d never had any desire to find another that called themselves ‘Demons’, perhaps he should.

[Sarah]

From where Arc had chosen them to sit Zli could see most of the festivities. Many of the dragon costumes had gathered around the square, and more were coming in as the day wore on. In truth, it was Zli’s first time participating in this particular holiday, if participating meant being in the city at the same time the festival went on. He’d already decided to let his guys have the day off. They’d been working almost nonstop since arriving. It would be nice for them to have time to themselves.

[Sarah]

They were lucky enough to be seated ‘inside’ a restaurant. Arc had apparently called ahead to make sure they got seats outside. The place was packed with people, and the waiters were so swamped that they were mostly left alone. It was nice at some points, like when Arc finally decided he was going to talk, it was less nice when Zli looked down and realized he was out of champagne. Champagne had never particularly tasted good, but the restaurant was serving some that was themed for the festival. Most everything on the menu was themed for the festival.

[Sarah]

Arc was lucky enough to grab the attention of a waiter and ordered something. Zli had meant to listen in, and ask for more alcohol, but his attention was caught by something else. “Who owns Aldrect?” he asked absently.

“No one, Annabelle has instilled no lords here,” Arc replied, he sounded surprised.

“Hmm,” Zli pursed his lips, thinking. He turned his attention back to the table and tried to remove the image from his mind. Arc was looking off in the direction he’d been staring, looking utterly confused.

[Sarah]

“What?” Arc was about to ask, but the waiter had returned. Damn he was quick. “Ah, thank you,” Arc said. Champagne found its way back into Zli’s glass, and some dish was set out before them. “I hope you’re okay with fish,” he said.

“Fish is fine,” Zli said. He wasn’t all that hungry, but he supposed it would be a bit important to the restaurant that their tables were making money. Wasn’t alcohol enough?

“And if you could make sure my friend here doesn’t empty his glass?” Arc asked. Before Zli could glare at them, the waiter had nodded and gone off to another table.

[Sarah]

“As if you’d really complain,” Arc said dryly. “Besides, it might be your only day off for a while,” he added.

“Fair,” Zli muttered. So long as the alcohol kept coming he would be fine with sitting around enjoying the sights passing by. Quite a few sights had passed by already, Zli was almost upset he was literally tied to Arc at the moment. He’d done his best to study some of the forms walking by him, with all the work he did in Aldrect he might even see a few of them later on. It wouldn’t be such a loss if they found their way across him under better circumstances.

[Sarah]

“When do you think they’ll judge the dragons?” Zli asked. Most of the dragon costumes looked like they’d been bought at a wholesale place, but some stood out brilliantly. Hilariously some were actual dragons that had dressed up in gold, or were just gold naturally. At least it seemed everyone in that little competition seemed to be getting along. Sharing techniques and ideas and compliments. It was almost heartwarming to see, almost. Zli was still trying not to fixate on what he’d seen earlier.

[Sarah]

“Anyway,” Arc began. “What did you see?” he asked.

Zli smiled wryly and took a sip of his drink. He’d prefer to chug the bottle, but they didn’t have such kindnesses in public. “I saw agents of the Original,” he said. “can’t un-see them now,” he added quietly.

“Viola’s?” Arc whispered, leaning in, eyes flitting around to those sitting in the restaurant.

“Who else?” Zli asked. Although the Original was hiding out in the mountains, her contacts had stayed vigilant across Evelon; both in service for Annabelle, and for the Original herself.

[Sarah]

“Why here? Why now?” Arc asked, straightening up.

“you’re guess is as good as mine,” Zli said with a shrug. “Actually, yours might be better, but that’s neither here nor there really,” he added.

“Did they see you?” Arc asked.

“I’m sure they saw me,” Zli nodded. A waitress came over and refilled his glass. The two waited until she was out of earshot before continuing. “I know this isn’t my city, but it damn sure feels like it at this point. What use does Annabelle have for sending them here?” he wondered.

[Sarah]

“Perhaps she doesn’t think you are giving her all the information she needs,” Arc said.

“Well then, she should have been clearer about what she wanted from me,” Zli grumbled.

“A walk around town then?” Arc asked tugging on the string.

Zli noticed now that they’d finished their food, he’d been eating out of formality after all. The sun was starting to set, and the festivities were just going to be livelier as night settled in. Mercifully the children would soon be disappearing back into their homes. Although he supposed the creatures were out of school for the holiday, so maybe they wouldn’t be in bed quite as soon as Zli hoped.

[Sarah]

As they stood Arc put an amount of money on the table. It was probably way more than they actually owed, and it was certain to cause problems among the staff of the restaurant. Unfortunately, neither of them cared to wait for the actual bill. They left without anyone noticing, and were blending into the passing crowd as soon as they exited.

“Across the square?” Arc asked.

That had been where Zli saw them disappear, but it didn’t matter now which way they went. “Wherever, that might be a good place to start,” he said. Even if the contacts had disappeared, they might have left a trail.