“Okay,” Alec mused, “Maybe we can think like them.” He looked around at the nearby restaurants, which sadly, as they were in a shopping center, was a lot. “Do you know where your friend likes to eat?”
Ae-Ri racked her brain, hitting the heel of her hand against the tinted visor of her helmet. Think, come on…. “Mexican!” she blurted suddenly. “She likes Mexican food.”
Anthony’s POV
He snorted loudly, turning towards the door. “Right. Are we going to leave or not?”
Winston’s POV
“We? I thought they gave you a mission?” Winnie’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Did you want to stop at home first?”
Anthony’s POV
He raised an eyebrow. “I have a mission. You have to go home. Therefore, we both need to leave.”
Winston’s POV
“Yeah… er— I should get started on dinner anyways.” Winnie’s face flushed red with embarrassment. He got off the floor, scrambling into a standing position.
Anthony called his grotesques into a ring around him, smoothing back a lock of hair. “Alright.”
“Where’re they sendin’ you? Do you want my staff? I have it in my room.” Winnie started walking towards the door, worried for his new friend.
“I have my own weapons,” Anthony interjected, lifting his file up to eye-level. A small frown tugged at his lips. “Actually, Firefly.. I need a flashlight for this mission.”
“Don’t call me—“ Winnie’s eyes widened with realization. He stopped himself mid sentence, spinning around to face Remedy. “You want me to go with you? Are you sure? I’ll try not to mess up. Do I need my staff?”
Anthony snorted loudly, already regretting the decision. “Poor word choice. I don’t need you. I need a very large flashlight that I don’t have to carry and won’t murder me while I’m looking in the other direction. Therefore, you’re coming with me.”
“Where’re we goin’? Is it another bank robbery?” Winnie backed out of the room so Anythony could come out, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
Following after, Anthony gave the hero a harsh glare. “Drop the hyper attitude. Focus. Eliminate all emotions beside mild annoyance so your head can stay cool while we’re doing this. And no, not a bank robbery. A missing agent just radioed in, but they’re injured and can’t get out of the base they were situated in. It’s abandoned now, decimated by an explosion, but they survived.”
“Sorry.” Winnie mumbled, a bit discouraged by Anothony’s cold behavior. He started to lead the way out of the building, pouting.
“How strong are you?” Anthony asked, eyeing Winston’s arms. “And do you need your suit for this? Or at least an earpiece, so you can contact your garbage Mission Control if anything goes wrong.”
“I carried A back home last night for a couple blocks… I don’t know how heavy she is. You could ask her, but I think she’d hit you.” Winnie shrugged, smiling a little at the thought of his friend. “I don’t have an official suit yet. They’re tryin’ to make one that doesn’t stand out when I go all camo. I made one at home though! It’s a little mismatched, but it’s not to bad. I’ll grab an earpiece at the front desk too.” He replied cheerily, trying to hide his growing excitement.
“Mm,” Anthony replied in a skeptical tone, barely glancing in the excitable boy’s direction. “Please do. And you can borrow my handgun to defend yourself.”
Winnie looked at him, surprised. “I’ve never used a gun before.” He scratched the back of his neck. “I’ll be okay. Place should be empty, right?”
The healer groaned loudly, slapping a hand against his forehead. “Jesus, do they teach you anything in here? You can take my knife, then. Yes, the place is abandoned, but you never know.”
Winnie didn’t want to hurt anyone, but he also didn’t want to upset Remedy. “I can borrow a staff from the training room— it’s right around the corner. I’m good with it, I promise.” He chewed his lip, nervously awaiting Remedy’s permission.
But Anthony only scowled. "What's a stick going to do to protect you?"
“Don’t start hatin’ on it until you’ve seen me with it. I’ve been trainin’ real hard for over a year now! I’m pretty good with it!” Winnie protested, a little offended.
"It's….. a stick," he reiterated, "And whoever we bump into could have a firearm. Do your twigs block bullets?"
“I trust you to heal me.” Winnie flashed a rare confident grin, proceeding to break into a run down the hall. “I’ll be right back!” He shouted over his shoulder, heading straight for the training room.
“First mistake..” Anthony muttered under his breath as he watched Winston’s retreating back. “Trusting me. Sorry, not sorry.”
Winston dashed into the training room, testing out a few of the staffs until he found one of similar weight and height to his own as home. With a triumphant smile he raced back down the hallway, twirling the staff elegantly, almost like a baton.
“Fancy twirling won’t get you anywhere,” Anthony dismissed, turning towards the door. “But fine, suit yourself. Let’s go.”
“Gets me money on the street sometimes.” Winston trailed behind Anthony, starting to hum to himself as they walked.
Anthony didn’t dignify the statement with a response, only shot Samuel an annoyed glance when he began to bob his head along to Winston’s infernal tune.
Winston spotted Samuel and smiled widely, continuing the cheery tune. He strapped the staff to his back, unwilling to trip over it.
Anthony slowly clenched and unclenched his fists, his emotionless expression shifting into a deep scowl. But he didn’t protest outwardly… he wasn’t in the mood for any waterworks.
After a few minutes, Winston’s humming turned into him singing quietly under his breath, warbling out a pop song that was almost constantly on the radio.
Finally, Anthony couldn’t stand it anymore. “Shut up,” he snapped, shoving both hands into his pockets. “For the love of god.” Guilt immediately rose to his chest, but he ignored it. So what if Winston had a beautiful voice? So what if he’d seemed so perfectly happy?