Chapter V
Year 4357, Month of Sigilind (8), Day 12.
06:24
"Y'know what they say, another day, another morning after getting laid." Nora said, petting Nocturne, who had cozied between the couple during the middle of the night, once they had finished their lovemaking.
Emile buttoned up their dress shirt, their freshly blow-dried hair landing just across the bottom of their collar. Emile was facing away from Nora, standing tall as they looked at themself in the full length mirror that kept on the inside of their closet door.
"So...some boss of yours, she wasn't that friendly." Nora said, laying back on her elbows.
"Don't take it personally, she doesn't like anyone." Emile said, grabbing a pair of dress pants.
"Y'know I would've brought it up last night, but I didn't want to ruin the mood," Nora said, sitting up as Nocturne crawled onto her lap, her long braids being the only thing keeping her remotely decent, "Your boss, King, y'know the ruler, seems...oddly...possessive of you."
Emile turned around and grabbed a belt, looping it through the loops on their pants, "She just doesn't want me acting out of line, she's skeptical to anything or anyone involving me."
Emile said, a light blush on their cheeks at the thought of Lorika being possessive of them.
Nora smirked, "Should I be jealous Em?" Nora said, standing up and stretching, walking over to Emile's wardrobe and grabbing a folded hoodie, quickly putting it on and pulling her braids out of the confines of the Cotten garment.
"Of course not." Emile grabbed a vest and put it on, slipping it through their arms and buttoning it up, turning around as Nora let out a low whistle, "What?" Emile asked, grabbing a matching tie and quickly tying it under their dress shirts collar.
Nora walked over and traced her hand along the subtle sapphire swirl pattern. "Blue looks good on you y'know, it matches your eyes."
"Thanks." Emile said, wrapping their arms around Nora's waist experimentally, and hugging her.
Nora wrapped her arms around Emile's upper back and squeezed, "I'm starting to like you Emile." She said, making something in Emile swell up with happiness.
"Me too, Nora," Emile said, a smile crossing their face, "Want some coffee?"
"Yeah!"
"So you're not officially dating?" Ezekiel asked, her voice muffled, "And she immediately asked for money twenty minutes later, even though you blew a couple bands on her the day before?"
Emile frowned, "Yet... and can't you just be happy for me? I finally have something going for me." Emile said, taking a sip of their soda, it was flat.
"Yeah...I can be happy for you, I just am skeptical, y'know the types of girls that I usually get involved with." Ezekiel said, her webbed hand moving to hover over her chest.
Emile snorted, laughing a little, "Yeah, the girls you have to hide from Ciel," Emile said, rewarding them with an elbow in the side, "Hey! It's true!" Emile said holding their side with their free hand.
Emile was suppost to be looking over and reviewing the production of a new chemical that their division was tasked with making, when a machine broke it was necessary for Ezekiel— the number one tech nerd of the country —to have to come fix it. Which was an easy fix, they had to wait about an hour for the machine to flush itself out and essentially restart, so Emile had decided to take a break, after all their workers were able to handle themselves with the other functioning machines.
"It is, but that doesn't mean you have to— or get to —rub it in my face, there's a lot of things about you that I could rub in your face, but don't, because unlike someone I know I have self control." Ezekiel said, her muffled voice growing louder.
Ezekiel's large irisless bug eyes bore into Emile's eliciting a crude response from Emile, "Why does Ciel like you, you're a fugly looking creature." Emile said, poking the blank area on Ezekiel's face where a mouth should be, if Ezekiel was human.
Ezekiel shrugged and looked away, "Ciel is...interesting. They want to study humans but choose to do most of their experiments on me; someone who is the opposite of human; I mean, I dont even have a defined species! I'm just an anomaly, and for some reason the world was just like 'Welcome to the club'," Ezekiel said, scoffing, "Ciel's just an interesting person, atleast by being the voluntary experiment I know that I'm saving the lives of several humans, Ciel doesn't exactly have a moral code."
Emile nodded, "Ciel's a character, that's for sure," They said, looking at Ezekiel, "So, what about you, whats going on in your love life? Ciel finally popped the big question?" They asked, nudging Ezekiel in the side.
Ezekiel faltered, stepping away, "No, no, no, no. You think I'd want to date Ciel? Let alone marry them?" Ezekiel asked, blinking in surprise, "That would be gross."
Emile shrugged, "Hey I wouldn't judge you...well I would, but I wouldn't bully you too much about it." Emile said shrugging, "Plus, Ciel's got you on a leash already, they throw a tantrum if you give anyone else your attention, they're like a man-child...scratch that they're just a spoiled child."
Ezekiel rolled their eyes, "They're just sensitive, plus they aren't human, they're literally a spider, they dont have a moral code, or any self awareness. They don't know that what they're doing is ethically wrong...so yeah, like a child."
Emile smirked, "You're defending them." They said, leaning forward, "You're defending them because you love them." Emile said, watching as Ezekiel's expression changed.
"Emile shut up," Ezekiel said, their large eyes narrowing, "You're so stupid."
Emile laughed, proceeding to bonk Ezekiel on the head in between her straight, sky facing, cone shaped horns, "You never denied it."
Ezekiel sighed and ran their webbed hands through their hair, "I do love them...platonically. They're a friend, I just....don't see them that way, not yet at least."
Emile raised an eyebrow, "Not yet?" Emile asked, a sly smile spreading across their face, "Sounds like you do like them but are gaslighting yourself."
Ezekiel shrugged, "Ciel just needs to mature, not be so...childish. Then I'd be willing to date them, until then we're just friends, or tired dog owner and clingy dog that has no concept of personal space."
Emile nodded, "Makes sense," Emile thought for a moment, "Y'know, you're kinda friends with everybody," Emile gulped, "How do you do it?"
Ezekiel looked at Emile with somber eyes, "Well, when you're not human, or remotely attractive to humans, you have to shmooze your way through life a different method. Growing up I took a lot of speech and debate classes, and since my legal guardians— at the time —were politicians you learn how to be a manipulative, and persuasive person."
Emile hummed in response, "Yeah..." Emile didn't pry any more, they knew Ezekiel had a rough past, much like Emile, sharing another thing in common in that they didn't like to reflect on it any more than they absolutely had to. Ezekiel was one of the only people they'd treat with the respect they wanted from others, along with Amor and Ciel, but that was more out of fear— since both of them were complete psychopaths in Emile's book.
Ezekiel sighed and pinched the bridge of their nose, "So...why did you want to know? Need any tips— are you trying to befriend someone?" Her bulging sky blue eyes looked back over at Emile, the odd part was that they could tell she was looking at them.
"More or less," Emile took a sip of their previously forgotten beverage, only to find it empty, they crushed the can and threw it into a nearby bin from where they stood, making the shot on their first try, "Score!"
Ezekiel looked at their nails, "Good one. So, do you have any hints to the type of person you're trying to befriend, fill me in on the relationship, just met, known for a long time, what's the deal here?"
Emile thought for a moment. They tried to draw something objective about Lorika, but, they had nothing. The more they thought about it the more they realized that they didn't know anything about Lorika.
Emile opened their mouth and took a deep breath in, preparing to respond in detail...but they had nothing. "...I don't know. I think...well, I've known them for a good while but...I don't know them, I think they've wanted to get to know each other for a while now, but yet I can't— I keep being a jerk to them."
Ezekiel looked absolutely dumbfounded, but also looked like she knew exactly who Emile was talking about, "Then just tell 'em that, simple, put it on the table so you can actually work on it, together."
Emile took a breath in, about to vent when the sound of the machine powering back on resounded through their ears, "Oh, it's back on," They said simply, "Well, I better get back to supervising these idiots so they don't break it again. See ya." They said, holding their fist out for a fist bump.
"Yep, see you." Ezekiel said, fist bumping Emile before walking through the door and leaving the factory room.
Nora kissed Emile on the cheek, "Oh, Emile, thank you for this!" Nora said, her hazel eyes batting at them, she wrapped her arms around Emile's her curvaceous body pressing against Emile's after Emile had come to pick her up, telling her to dress to the max for a surprise.
"You don't even know what we're doing." They said with an amused laugh, running a hand through their hair.
Nora nuzzled her head on Emile's shoulder, "I'm just so happy that I'm going to get a surprise and spend time with you," Nora's long nails— which Emile wired her the money for —pressed into Emile's arms, "So, what are we doing?"
Emile looked at her and smiled, "It's a surprise, I cab't tell you!" Emile said, wincing as her nails pressed into them more.
Nora flashed a smile, "I just want to know if I'm getting treated right tonight, after all I have put out for you more than once." Nora said, teasingly poking Emile's cheek.
Emile snorted and tilted Nora's head up with their free hand, the one that wasn't being suffocated by sharp nails, "Don't worry, you know I'll always treat you right."
Nora smiled and released her claws from Emile's skin, "Let's get going then!"
Emile hailed a cab and had Nora cover her ears as they told the driver the destination, flirting with Nora the way there, covering her eyes as they got within a minute of the place, helping her out of the car while holding her bag.
"Ready?" Emile asked, removing their hands from Nora's eyes when she nodded, revealing that they were bringing her to the finest Kah-O'an style restaurant in the country, entirely on them. Emile felt their heart jump when Nora squealed in delight, hugging Emile tightly.
Throughout the night Emile felt a sense of wholeness come through them as they learned more about Nora, really connecting with her on a deep level over the abundance of food that she ordered and ate in record time.
Emile was so caught up in spending time with Nora that they forgot their initial mission which was asking her to officially date Emile. But that could wait, Emile was having the time of their life, Nora came back to Emile's place to hang out, rather than for sex like the nights before. Emile fell asleep with a smile on their face, and Nora in their arms.Chapter V
Year 4357, Month of Sigilind (8), Day 12.
06:24
"Y'know what they say, another day, another morning after getting laid." Nora said, petting Nocturne, who had cozied between the couple during the middle of the night, once they had finished their lovemaking.
Emile buttoned up their dress shirt, their freshly blow-dried hair landing just across the bottom of their collar. Emile was facing away from Nora, standing tall as they looked at themself in the full length mirror that kept on the inside of their closet door.
"So...some boss of yours, she wasn't that friendly." Nora said, laying back on her elbows.
"Don't take it personally, she doesn't like anyone." Emile said, grabbing a pair of dress pants.
"Y'know I would've brought it up last night, but I didn't want to ruin the mood," Nora said, sitting up as Nocturne crawled onto her lap, her long braids being the only thing keeping her remotely decent, "Your boss, King, y'know the ruler, seems...oddly...possessive of you."
Emile turned around and grabbed a belt, looping it through the loops on their pants, "She just doesn't want me acting out of line, she's skeptical to anything or anyone involving me."
Emile said, a light blush on their cheeks at the thought of Lorika being possessive of them.
Nora smirked, "Should I be jealous Em?" Nora said, standing up and stretching, walking over to Emile's wardrobe and grabbing a folded hoodie, quickly putting it on and pulling her braids out of the confines of the Cotten garment.
"Of course not." Emile grabbed a vest and put it on, slipping it through their arms and buttoning it up, turning around as Nora let out a low whistle, "What?" Emile asked, grabbing a matching tie and quickly tying it under their dress shirts collar.
Nora walked over and traced her hand along the subtle sapphire swirl pattern. "Blue looks good on you y'know, it matches your eyes."
"Thanks." Emile said, wrapping their arms around Nora's waist experimentally, and hugging her.
Nora wrapped her arms around Emile's upper back and squeezed, "I'm starting to like you Emile." She said, making something in Emile swell up with happiness.
"Me too, Nora," Emile said, a smile crossing their face, "Want some coffee?"
"Yeah!"
"So you're not officially dating?" Ezekiel asked, her voice muffled, "And she immediately asked for money twenty minutes later, even though you blew a couple bands on her the day before?"
Emile frowned, "Yet... and can't you just be happy for me? I finally have something going for me." Emile said, taking a sip of their soda, it was flat.
"Yeah...I can be happy for you, I just am skeptical, y'know the types of girls that I usually get involved with." Ezekiel said, her webbed hand moving to hover over her chest.
Emile snorted, laughing a little, "Yeah, the girls you have to hide from Ciel," Emile said, rewarding them with an elbow in the side, "Hey! It's true!" Emile said holding their side with their free hand.
Emile was suppost to be looking over and reviewing the production of a new chemical that their division was tasked with making, when a machine broke it was necessary for Ezekiel— the number one tech nerd of the country —to have to come fix it. Which was an easy fix, they had to wait about an hour for the machine to flush itself out and essentially restart, so Emile had decided to take a break, after all their workers were able to handle themselves with the other functioning machines.
"It is, but that doesn't mean you have to— or get to —rub it in my face, there's a lot of things about you that I could rub in your face, but don't, because unlike someone I know I have self control." Ezekiel said, her muffled voice growing louder.
Ezekiel's large irisless bug eyes bore into Emile's eliciting a crude response from Emile, "Why does Ciel like you, you're a fugly looking creature." Emile said, poking the blank area on Ezekiel's face where a mouth should be, if Ezekiel was human.
Ezekiel shrugged and looked away, "Ciel is...interesting. They want to study humans but choose to do most of their experiments on me; someone who is the opposite of human; I mean, I dont even have a defined species! I'm just an anomaly, and for some reason the world was just like 'Welcome to the club'," Ezekiel said, scoffing, "Ciel's just an interesting person, atleast by being the voluntary experiment I know that I'm saving the lives of several humans, Ciel doesn't exactly have a moral code."
Emile nodded, "Ciel's a character, that's for sure," They said, looking at Ezekiel, "So, what about you, whats going on in your love life? Ciel finally popped the big question?" They asked, nudging Ezekiel in the side.
Ezekiel faltered, stepping away, "No, no, no, no. You think I'd want to date Ciel? Let alone marry them?" Ezekiel asked, blinking in surprise, "That would be gross."
Emile shrugged, "Hey I wouldn't judge you...well I would, but I wouldn't bully you too much about it." Emile said shrugging, "Plus, Ciel's got you on a leash already, they throw a tantrum if you give anyone else your attention, they're like a man-child...scratch that they're just a spoiled child."
Ezekiel rolled their eyes, "They're just sensitive, plus they aren't human, they're literally a spider, they dont have a moral code, or any self awareness. They don't know that what they're doing is ethically wrong...so yeah, like a child."
Emile smirked, "You're defending them." They said, leaning forward, "You're defending them because you love them." Emile said, watching as Ezekiel's expression changed.
"Emile shut up," Ezekiel said, their large eyes narrowing, "You're so stupid."
Emile laughed, proceeding to bonk Ezekiel on the head in between her straight, sky facing, cone shaped horns, "You never denied it."
Ezekiel sighed and ran their webbed hands through their hair, "I do love them...platonically. They're a friend, I just....don't see them that way, not yet at least."
Emile raised an eyebrow, "Not yet?" Emile asked, a sly smile spreading across their face, "Sounds like you do like them but are gaslighting yourself."
Ezekiel shrugged, "Ciel just needs to mature, not be so...childish. Then I'd be willing to date them, until then we're just friends, or tired dog owner and clingy dog that has no concept of personal space."
Emile nodded, "Makes sense," Emile thought for a moment, "Y'know, you're kinda friends with everybody," Emile gulped, "How do you do it?"
Ezekiel looked at Emile with somber eyes, "Well, when you're not human, or remotely attractive to humans, you have to shmooze your way through life a different method. Growing up I took a lot of speech and debate classes, and since my legal guardians— at the time —were politicians you learn how to be a manipulative, and persuasive person."
Emile hummed in response, "Yeah..." Emile didn't pry any more, they knew Ezekiel had a rough past, much like Emile, sharing another thing in common in that they didn't like to reflect on it any more than they absolutely had to. Ezekiel was one of the only people they'd treat with the respect they wanted from others, along with Amor and Ciel, but that was more out of fear— since both of them were complete psychopaths in Emile's book.
Ezekiel sighed and pinched the bridge of their nose, "So...why did you want to know? Need any tips— are you trying to befriend someone?" Her bulging sky blue eyes looked back over at Emile, the odd part was that they could tell she was looking at them.
"More or less," Emile took a sip of their previously forgotten beverage, only to find it empty, they crushed the can and threw it into a nearby bin from where they stood, making the shot on their first try, "Score!"
Ezekiel looked at their nails, "Good one. So, do you have any hints to the type of person you're trying to befriend, fill me in on the relationship, just met, known for a long time, what's the deal here?"
Emile thought for a moment. They tried to draw something objective about Lorika, but, they had nothing. The more they thought about it the more they realized that they didn't know anything about Lorika.
Emile opened their mouth and took a deep breath in, preparing to respond in detail...but they had nothing. "...I don't know. I think...well, I've known them for a good while but...I don't know them, I think they've wanted to get to know each other for a while now, but yet I can't— I keep being a jerk to them."
Ezekiel looked absolutely dumbfounded, but also looked like she knew exactly who Emile was talking about, "Then just tell 'em that, simple, put it on the table so you can actually work on it, together."
Emile took a breath in, about to vent when the sound of the machine powering back on resounded through their ears, "Oh, it's back on," They said simply, "Well, I better get back to supervising these idiots so they don't break it again. See ya." They said, holding their fist out for a fist bump.
"Yep, see you." Ezekiel said, fist bumping Emile before walking through the door and leaving the factory room.
Nora kissed Emile on the cheek, "Oh, Emile, thank you for this!" Nora said, her hazel eyes batting at them, she wrapped her arms around Emile's her curvaceous body pressing against Emile's after Emile had come to pick her up, telling her to dress to the max for a surprise.
"You don't even know what we're doing." They said with an amused laugh, running a hand through their hair.
Nora nuzzled her head on Emile's shoulder, "I'm just so happy that I'm going to get a surprise and spend time with you," Nora's long nails— which Emile wired her the money for —pressed into Emile's arms, "So, what are we doing?"
Emile looked at her and smiled, "It's a surprise, I cab't tell you!" Emile said, wincing as her nails pressed into them more.
Nora flashed a smile, "I just want to know if I'm getting treated right tonight, after all I have put out for you more than once." Nora said, teasingly poking Emile's cheek.
Emile snorted and tilted Nora's head up with their free hand, the one that wasn't being suffocated by sharp nails, "Don't worry, you know I'll always treat you right."
Nora smiled and released her claws from Emile's skin, "Let's get going then!"
Emile hailed a cab and had Nora cover her ears as they told the driver the destination, flirting with Nora the way there, covering her eyes as they got within a minute of the place, helping her out of the car while holding her bag.
"Ready?" Emile asked, removing their hands from Nora's eyes when she nodded, revealing that they were bringing her to the finest Kah-O'an style restaurant in the country, entirely on them. Emile felt their heart jump when Nora squealed in delight, hugging Emile tightly.
Throughout the night Emile felt a sense of wholeness come through them as they learned more about Nora, really connecting with her on a deep level over the abundance of food that she ordered and ate in record time.
Emile was so caught up in spending time with Nora that they forgot their initial mission which was asking her to officially date Emile. But that could wait, Emile was having the time of their life, Nora came back to Emile's place to hang out, rather than for sex like the nights before. Emile fell asleep with a smile on their face, and Nora in their arms.