"Tch!" Medici clicked his tongue, his expression a tangled mix of resentment, relief, mockery, and unease.
He closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them again, his ruby-like gaze had returned to its usual calm. Looking at Alaric, he said, rare praise in his voice, "You've actually done something decent for once."
"Decent? Don't I always do decent things?" Alaric shot him an indignant look. "Need I remind you, I'm the one who pulled you out of trouble. Is that how you talk about your benefactor?"
"I'm immensely grateful to my benefactor, but for the boss who made me work 240 hours straight, not stabbing you is already me being merciful." Medici said, a mocking smile curling his lips. "Good thing I'm a spiritual creature now, or I'd be the first angel to drop dead from exhaustion."
"Cough…" Alaric, for once, looked guilty, glancing around before muttering, "That's why I got you some compensation…"
"What compensation?" Medici asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Well, I was just chatting with Adam 2.0, and we got to talking about you." Alaric said with a smile. "So, he's decided to come apologize to you."
Medici's pupils contracted. He instinctively stepped back, bumping into a chair before stopping, staring at Alaric in disbelief. "Apologize?"
"He did wrong, didn't he? Back when he was a robot, fine, but now that he's got some humanity, of course he should apologize!" Alaric said matter-of-factly, then added with mock seriousness, "But I know you're a Sun God fanboy. The moment he apologizes, you'll probably forgive him. Just remember, you're my tool now... no jumping ship."
"Hahahahaha!" Medici let out a laugh, whether from anger or something else. He glanced at Alaric, pulled an apple from somewhere, and took a vicious bite.
Crunch...
As Medici chewed, he felt a nudge on his arm. Turning, he saw Alaric looking at him, making a grabbing gesture.
"After sorting through all these files with you, I'm starving. Hand me one." Alaric said shamelessly.
"Tch, starve then!" Medici scoffed but tossed another apple from under the desk to Alaric.
Now both were munching apples in the study.
When Medici finished his, he pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a drag, only to choke on the strong mint flavor. Coughing, he muttered a curse under his breath and glared at Alaric. "When did you swap my smokes?"
"When I got here, obviously. I'm not a fan of secondhand smoke." Alaric said, shrugging. Looking at Medici, he added earnestly, "You know, smoking's bad for you, Red. You might get sick."
"Hmph!" Medici didn't know what "lung cancer" was but could guess. He sneered, took another drag of the mint cigarette without putting it out, and said, "Sorry, if I die early, it'll be from working myself to death for you. No other way."
Alaric sheepishly lowered his head.
Medici, still smoking the mint cigarette, spoke when it was half gone. "I won't forgive him."
Alaric turned to look at him.
"Betrayal is a fact, no matter what. I get why he did it... back then, without emotions, he chose the most logical, ruthless path for his interests." Medici said, holding the cigarette between his fingers, letting white smoke curl upward, obscuring his expression.
"Now he's got emotions, humanity. Maybe he realizes his mistakes, maybe he genuinely feels sorry." Medici continued. "But so what? Does an apology erase everything?"
He flashed a mocking smile, unclear who it was aimed at. "I'm not that generous. I can't just wipe the slate clean because of an apology."
Alaric listened quietly, watching Medici. After a moment, he said, "But you no longer want to kill him. Or maybe you never did."
Medici's movement stilled. He stubbed out the mint cigarette and shot Alaric a sharp look, his presence like an unsheathed blade. "Keep talking if you've got something to say."
"Don't get mad, Red. It's no big deal... just love and hate, hard to let go, right? Totally normal. I've seen it plenty. Take that famous Gotham father-obsessed guy, Red Hood. You two would probably get along." Alaric said, grinning, unfazed.
"Who?" Medici glanced at him, signaling for more details.
Alaric eagerly launched into a rundown of a certain Bat-family's tangled love-hate drama.
Medici listened, then suddenly said, "This Batman you're talking about... he adopts a bunch of kids, and while they're still minors, has them wear tights and fight crime with him? Is this guy even legit?"
Though a natural mythical creature, Medici's values, shaped by Sasrir's teachings, were surprisingly upright in some ways.
"Er, take a look at yourself, then at the Sun God." Alaric said, smiling.
Medici fell silent. Batman had minors in tights fighting crime, but the Ancient Sun God had raised his eight Kings of Angels from childhood, each given special-effect wings. It was common knowledge that normal angels in the Lord of Mysteries world didn't have wings, yet the eight King of Angels did. The source of those wings was obvious.
"See? Told you you'd have plenty to talk about!" Alaric said, shrugging confidently.
Medici's gaze turned dangerous.
"Don't look like you're about to punch your boss. I'm pulling double duty with two personas, super busy!" Alaric said, finally justified on this point. He looked at Medici and asked, "So, how are you going to handle Adam?"
"Obviously, I'll beat him up and hang him from a lamppost…" Medici glanced at him, reciting Alaric's old idea, then smirked. "Back when he had no humanity, I figured doing that wouldn't faze him. But now…"
With humanity came the capacity for shame.
Alaric blinked, then said eagerly, "How about I get Amon to form a band to play music in the background?"
***
Every 100 Power Stones and 5 Reviews will earn you a Bonus Chapter.
And if you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (remove space)