Chapter 64 - What happened?

Note:

- Hello, I am back from holiday now

- 8th of June 2022: Changing chapters 64 to 76 to past tense because I'm on break and bored (anyone new. Originally, these 12 chapters were gonna be in the present tense because that's how I wrote the story originally. Then I went on a spree of changing everything to past tense but I didn't with these 12 solely because they weren't released at the time and I couldn't be bothered)

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POV: 3rd person

A week and a half later

"So now that we're at a high-end club dedicated to the rich and you're done trying to burn me alive in my own home, will you finally tell me what the meeting between you and your boss was like?

Nero looked blankly at the blue-haired man over the rim of the whiskey glass as he took a small sip. He could barely hear the question over the music blasting from the dance floor behind them and unlucky for them, today happened to be one of the random days where the bar was extremely crowded. So there was a lot of loud drunk screaming, chattering, flirting and making out. "Are you going to explain why you dressed me up and dragged me to a bar with an earpiece connected to your listening device?" Nero very much made it clear with his dull tone how much he'd rather be home binging anime on his day off.

"Only if you answer my previous question with a yes and then elaborate what happened a week and a half ago in Leonardo Covell's office."

The shorter man heaved out an annoyed breath of air. "You do realise I'm still mad at you for giving out my number to him? The only reason I'm even speaking to you right now is because you had another depressive episode after like, a year."

"Nah, you'd have totally forgiven me or else you wouldn't have been there during the episode. Plus, I was mad at you as well because you totally could've done the entire thing without exposing yourself by becoming a ninja."

"That was time-consuming and a major cannot-be-fucked."

"Yeah say that again at the meeting next week when they're going to re-evaluate everyone's power. I can't believe they still haven't discovered that you lied about your power. It worked out in the end for us since the office was running around like headless chickens as someone who supposedly didn't exist in their register entered their city."

"What can I say, I'm just a normal civilian. They wouldn't look twice towards my files."

"Yeah, except they literally are now," Aiden took a swing of his beer before letting out a sound of approval. "So what are you going to do now?"

Nero shrugged carelessly as he turned around on his stool to observe the dance floor. He had another sip of his whiskey before pensively responding, "Lie again? It worked the first time."

"Yeah except the first time they weren't checking for a quote on quote, evil aura. How the fuck they figured out about your devil being involved is beyond me. Almost makes them look capable."

Nero snorted into his cup. "The government definitely would've heard about the devil's contract. It's quite sought out and looked down upon as well as worshipped so I'd be surprised if they didn't figure it out really."

"But all they had were witness accounts. I destroyed all video evidence that day. I can guarantee that. So they're really inferring all this from subjective recounts?"

"*shrug* I guess they were really good at re-enacting the scene. Look, I'll be fine. All I have to do is make sure that there isn't a single trace of Raziel oozing out and when I show them what I can do, I'll do my best to keep the aura to a minimum. I've been training to be a ninja since the age of nine, I'll be great."

Aiden returned a worried look and seemed as if he wanted to argue further but instead, he held back and redirected the conversation. "We went completely off track there. What the fuck happened between you and Leo afterwards?"

Nero groaned out loud and tossed back the rest of his whiskey. He called for the bartender for two shots of vodka but Aiden interrupted quickly and told the bartender, "get him a diluted Canadian Club." He took the credit card with a nod and once it was returned, Aiden answered Nero's unverbalized question. "I need you to be somewhat sober with a functioning brain for the rest of the night."

The latter rose an eyebrow as if to get the electro user to elaborate further but all he got was, "I'll explain AFTER you stop avoiding my question."

"That's why I was getting vodka. I can't be sober for this conversation."

"Oh come on, it couldn't have been that bad."

Nero looked up in contemplation momentarily, then looked back down to his mate. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he replied nonchalantly.

The sudden I-don't-give-an-eff attitude threw Aiden for a loop. "You guess I'm– were you being dramatic for no reason just then?"

With a casual shrug, Nero had another swig of his bottle. "Just wanted to see what it's like to be you."

Aiden was beyond offended as he sputtered out indistinguishable sounds and glared at his best friend. "Are you calling me UNNECESSARILY DRAMATIC?" he squawked out.

"The award for the best inferring skills through context-dependent clues goes to–"

"I AM NOT DRAMATIC!" Aiden yelled out, which gathered the attention of loiterers nearby. They were all drunk so they just shrugged it off and went back to their previous tasks.

Nero sent him an eyeroll and stripped off his leather jacket due to the growing heat. "You're doing a great convincing me otherwise."

"Listen here you lil– STOP TRYING TO CHANGE THE CONVERSATION AND ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!"

The demon vessel settled with a smug smirk. "I literally did nothing. I'm pretty sure it's you going off on a tangent."

There was a vein ready to burst out of Aiden's forehead and his face was turning red from frustration. He proved to be more or less a mature adult by gritting out, "Just. Answer. The. Fucking. Question."

"*sigh* what do you want to know?"

"JUST WHAT HAPPENED AFTER I GAVE HIM YOUR NUMBER!"

"Yeesh, no need to get feisty. You could've just said so."

"That's it." Aiden began rolling up the sleeves of his shirt and curling his fists in a boxing stance. Nero burst out laughing and put both his hands up in surrender.

"I'M KIDDING. Calm your dick. I'll tell you."

The other man glared but the tension left his shoulder and his hands were safely back to the benchtop.

"Well, after you betrayed my trust," Nero continued (Aiden eyes rolled), "Leo demanded a meeting immediately and unluckily for me, I was at the company and he was like two minutes away so I had no chance of bolting out of the state. The meeting was compulsory and he probably wasn't below kidnapping me and dragging me back if I ran. We met in his office, talked and then went to our respective homes."

Aiden blinked a couple of times before he exclaimed with a disbelieving tone, "No way you're getting away with saying that much. Fucking elaborate on what you guys talked about and the end result."

"Do I have to? We're at a club so we might as well enjoy ourselves and dance the night away with drinks in our hands."

"No. We're not here to have fun. We're here for a very specific reason that will be discussed later but it's not time to act on it. So to kill time, I need you to stop avoiding everything I ask and answer like a good little boy before I sucker punch you through the marble top."

"Don't tell me you brought me here to stalk one of your exes..."

"HOLY FUCK NO! I swear you're becoming more annoying than me day by day."

"Wow, now that's just plain rude. I don't want to tell you anymore."

"Nerovsky..." Aiden growled out with a menacing tone to notify that he was losing his patience. To top it off, you could see static coming out of his clothes, meaning he was really annoyed.

"I'm not obligated to tell you anything but whatever. If you're so fucking desperate but I'm not telling you everything from start to finish because I'm lazy. You ask me questions, I answer them."

"I'm your best friend. It's my duty to know everything about you and as I am very nice, I will agree with your terms. Your first question is what was his mood initially, while you guys were in the office?"

"Of course, you would go for the hardest one first. Well..."