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Watching the 33rd train was always an experience. Micah supported Isaiah`s troop with everything the angel asked for, and as such, they were the best trained battalion in the Crescent City, even though Naomi would never let any of the aux hear her say that. That would be a surefire way to pick a fight. Afterall, everyone knew the reputation of the 33rd, but only few knew how hard Isaiah had worked for years now to get rid of it. However, and in spite of his best efforts, he still only had arrogant and pampered angels to work with, most of which had never fought an actual battle before. Both the fae and shifter aux had that advantage over the 33rd. All angels that were not protected by status had long since been sent to Pangera to participate in the war efforts, leaving mostly the royal and the rich behind. Most Lunathion fae and shifters had escaped that fate, not as visible to the Asteri`s eye.
Having come from the battlefields of Pangera himself, Isaiah must have been quite shocked to what he had arrived here ten years ago, Naomi mused as she put her infantry through their paces. She knew that all training in the world could not help with lack of discipline and experience, but Micah`s triarii consisted of elite fighters that tried their hardest to whip the rest of their soldiers into shape. Well. She and Isaiah were. Justinian was too naive himself, surprisingly not having lost his foolishness to 200 years of slavery, he had a hard time keeping up his own training schedule. Victoria was too busy with her own tasks and endless jobs she had to take for Micah and had never liked fighting all that much anyway. And Hunt… well. Hunt had stopped caring over other people and their fighting capabilities a long time ago. His missions that Micah made him carry out drained him of all emotion and dulled his ability to care.
Some days, Isaiah used to be able to drag him out and make him train with them, but in recent days something had shifted between them. Naomi shifted her gaze to her commander, chuckling as she watched him struggling to force still sleepy soldiers to do exercises. Dawn drills were her favorite and Isaiah was used to them from his days of fighting, but for the angels of Lunathion it must feel like pure torture. They really should be used to it by now, after years of Isaiah`s leadership and daily drills like this.
Hunt had not joined them. Again. Naomi didn't know what happened between him and Isaiah but if Hunt closing himself off even more was the outcome, then it was bad for morale. It spurred the soldiers on to have the Umbra Mortis watching and judging them. Naomi sighed, realizing she would have to talk to one of the two about this. Preferably Isaiah, as Hunt was terribly unlikely to ever speak to her about it. However, Isaiah was the better liar, so maybe she wouldn't learn anything from him either… Well, it was worth asking at least.
Waiting until the complaining and exhausted soldiers had trailed out of the training rooms, Naomi approached Isaiah who looked frustrated as he regarded the mess his warriors had left behind, and was shaking his head as he began cleaning up after them. “Isaiah, I wanted to speak to you”, “Ah, you're still here. Great, take this.” Realizing she wouldn't get anywhere until the room was clean, Naomi helped the other angel put everything back where it was supposed to go.
“So. Can we talk now?” Even though still distracted, Isaiah nodded and settled down next to a window, letting his wings flutter in the wind and gesturing for her to do the same. “Well? Is something the matter?” Glad to realize she was no longer talking to her commander, but rather her friend, Naomi was positive this conversation would go over much better than she had feared. “No, I'm fine. I was just wondering if you know whether Hunt will be joining us next time?” She asked, deciding to not ask right-out. Isaiah tensed, his wings no longer relaxed at his back. The pure mention of Hunt`s name had countless emotions cross his face. Naomi struggled to decipher them all, guilt, shame, hurt? Maybe a hint of anger? Oh stars, how badly had Athalar fucked up this time?
“Ah, no. I don't think he will be joining us anytime soon. …Was that all you wanted to speak to me for?” As Isaiah averted his eyes, turning to stare out of the window, Naomi observed her boss trying to hide the emotions he had just displayed behind a mask of indifference that Naomi only knew from meetings with Micah. It was irritating to see him adapt those mannerisms when talking to her, but it let Naomi know he was really struggling with whatever happened with Hunt. “No that was not all. Listen Isaiah, I'm not an idiot. You and Hunt had a fight, right? Tell me what happened, let me go yell at him for what ever stupid stuff he said this time.” Naomi didn't know what she expected, but definitely not a flash of pure panic to cross Isaiah`s face. Though it was only seconds and disappeared quickly, squashed out with almost clinical effectiveness, Naomi spotted the quick shadow of fear that darkened her friends eyes.
“I don't know what you mean. I haven't spoken to him for a while.” “Yeah and that's the point. You two are friends, you should be talking to each other. Now, whatever happened, tell me.” Isaiah, seeming to realize that she wasn't going to let it go, sighed and turned away from the window, locking eyes with Naomi for the first time in this conversation. He looked so tired, Naomi realized in the moments Isaiah took to gather his thoughts. “We haven't fought. Not in the way you think, at least. We got an order. Hunt didn't like it. We went through with it, but… Hunt hasn't been able to talk to me since unless it's about business. I…I tried to talk to him but he's been avoiding me.” That was not what Naomi had been expecting. And much more vague than she had hoped. “If it was an order, shouldn't Hunt be blaming Micah? Why is he mad at you?” “He isn't mad at me. I think. He just… can't talk to me at the moment. It`ll be fine, I'm sure it's only a matter of time. He just has to process.” “And you`re just fine with that? Seems unfair to me”
Isaiah shook his head, raking a hand over his short hair, “He's always been like this. Whenever something… bad happens, he closes himself off for a while and then everything is back to normal. It's nothing to worry about.” Naomi stared at her commander for a moment, wondering if she should press the issue. He seemed genuinely unconcerned, only a bit saddened by Hunt`s behavior. “Something bad? What the fuck did Micah have you two do?” And there was that hint of panic again. Naomi was just about to take back the question, not wanting to make her friend uncomfortable, but Isaiah was shifting in place, his wings fluttering behind him as if in an attempt to hug him. “I never wanted Hunt to get involved. But Micah thought it would be funny.” He paused, but already what he said had made Naomi feel uneasy. As loyal as she was to the archangel they all served, everything he considered funny was probably horrible to everyone else. “Listen, you don't have to tell me. I can easily go and yell at Hunt just based on this.” “No! Just leave him alone. It's his right to be mad. It should never have happened.” “What happened?” She asked softly, scared. Unsure if she actually wanted to know.
“Micah has been. He has been asking me for special services for a while now. Special, personal services.” He averted his eyes, going back to staring out of the window. Shame was written over his usually impassive face, giving Naomi the last hint to piece together what he was saying. She wanted to be shocked, surprised but… She had always known Micah was a bastard. Just not how much of one. Naomi clenched her fists, taking a few deep breaths and trying to keep calm. Her anger wouldn't help in this situation. She had to stay calm, because what could she do? Sure, she was free. She had a high standing in Micah`s circle and enough money to buy a small house. But what could she do to protect her fellow triarii? All four of them fallen, still being punished for sins of two hundred years ago, none of them earnestly expecting to ever be free of their slavers.
She knew that there was nothing she could do to change this wrong, this one, among the many others that her friends had already suffered through. It still pissed her off like nothing else. But, she stayed silent and merely gestured for Isaiah to continue. He regarded her for a moment, seemed to search for hints of disgust perhaps? Naomi made sure all her anger was sealed deep inside herself, only her empathy showing in her face as her friend analyzed her. Then with a wary sigh, hopefully having found what he was looking for in her expression he continued talking, stilted, shutting off his emotions about the things he was saying. “About two weeks ago, Micah got bored or something. He told me he had a surprise for me and that I would surely enjoy it.” A self-deprecating laugh escaped him at the words. “One evening he ordered Hunt to join us. He made us…” Isaiah trailed off, his eyes empty, seemingly not able to say it. Naomi reached out, taking his hands in hers. “Hunt hasn't spoken to me since he left that night. I`m not sure if he ever will again. I ruined whatever friendship we had left…” “Oh dont be stupid. That wasn't your doing. This is one of Micah`s fucked up games and Hunt will get over it. I can assure you that he is currently blaming himself and hating on himself, not on you.”
She could see that her words were not doing anything to make her friend feel better. She didn't know what else to say, so she just sat with him for a few more minutes, holding onto his hands, both of them staring out of the window. But at some point, Isaiah seemed to shake his mood off and gently pried his hands from her. “Thank you, for… not judging. I appreciate that you just listened. However, I have to ask you to keep this to yourself. My reputation can not take too many more hits.” He smiled at her and for a moment Naomi almost fooled herself into believing him. Believing that he was fine now and able to smile without a thought. But she knew him well enough to see through his practiced smile and see the pain that still resided there, clinging to the edges of his eyes, like a murmur that followed in his shadow. But she only nodded, agreeing with his request and watched him leave the room, his wings the only outward sign of his emotions remaining. They were low, almost touching the ground, fluttering weakly in his wake.
She got up herself, dusting off her armor and reaching for her phone. She had an asshole to find.
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It took her longer than expected to locate Hunt. Either, he knew she was looking for him and actively avoiding her, or just really busy the entire day. But either way, at the end of the day he still had to sleep. And as Isaiah was staying out of house over-night, it was the perfect opportunity to talk some sense into Hunt. So she waited in front of his room, tapping her foot in impatience. When he finally arrived, she had been waiting for almost an hour. He paused when he saw her, raised an eyebrow and asked, gruffly “What?” “We have to talk.” Hunt shrugged and opened his door, beckoning her to go first. “What is this about?” “Before you kick me out, I know you don't want to talk about it, however, hear me out.” “Well, now I'm scared.” Grinning slightly, obviously not having caught up yet, Hunt leaned against the closed door, the minimal space just so allowing for them to stand.
“I talked with Isaiah” At that, she got a reaction. Hunt tensed, his stance shifting into a threatening one, his large form towering over hers. “And yes, he told me what happened. And no matter what you have been thinking, that was not your fault. It was Micah. Micah alone.” She poked him in the chest a few times to emphasize her point, glaring at him when he opened his mouth to speak. “Listen! You. Didn't. Have. A choice.”
He turned away and wouldn't meet her eyes. Then through gritted teeth, he growled out “You weren't there. I could have left, could have just taken the punishment. But I decided to be selfish and hurt Isaiah instead. My actions hurt him, like always.” “And your solution to that is to never speak to him again? This is stupid Hunt, and you know it. Both of you would have been punished had you left. Micah could have done much worse to him, had you angered him, so if anything, you protected him with your actions.” Hunt was shaking his head, still not able to look at her, but Naomi could tell she was getting somewhere with this.
She took his chin, made him look at her. “Nothing you could have done would have made this better. But. You can both heal from this. You just have to talk to each other and stop blaming yourself.” That seemed to catch his attention. “That idiot is blaming himself?” “Well you have been avoiding him since it happened. It gave him the wrong impression. I tried to set him right but… You know him. Stubborn.” They both chuckled a bit, but Hunt quickly turned grim again. “I just..don't know how to go about this. I thought, maybe pretending it never happened would work, but it obviously didn't.” “Mostly because you suck at pretending. But hey, you don't have to. Just I don't know, maybe actually talk about what happened?”
Hunt seemed to realize that actually was an option. Idiots. What would they do without her? She patted Hunt on the shoulder and gave one last advice: “Go and talk to him. It will make this easier for both of you.” With that she left him to his thoughts, really hoping the two could fix this.
If she ever got a chance to fuck-up Micah she would take it in a breath.