Two weeks had passed since Whinney was considered safe to test in the field. Elijah had been spending most of his free time since then lying in bed, either smoking or sleeping. Now that he didn't have to get up at any specific time to train, he quickly returned to his habit of sleeping in and staying up late. Whinney had come by his room a few times to ask him questions about the other freelancers, and she had invited him with them a few times as well. He'd said yes the first three times, but he really preferred staying in his room. Not that he didn't enjoy spending time with his colleagues, but it felt like such a hassle. He always felt a bit happier when he had gone out, but for whatever reason, that wasn't enough. It felt a lot like a chemical reaction. He remembered that the reactions that release heat, like fire, need some energy to get started before they can keep themselves going. He didn't want Whinney to feel alone, so he came along. That was the added energy he needed to get his metaphorical reaction going. She seemed to be getting along well with Hope and Dolion now, so he didn't feel the need to be there anymore. Dolion was easy to get along with, and Hope was always happy, so he guessed that she would be a good influence on Whinney. He always thought Hope was overbearing and positive to the point of being obnoxious. He supposed that maybe that wasn't such a bad thing in this case.
Elijah thought about this while standing in the shower. He twisted the heat knob, turning the water scalding. His skin burned, but he still felt cold inside. He hadn't showered for almost a week and might well have gone on longer if not for Mot telling him to come to his office. Not Mot in person, but some nobody messenger Elijah hadn't recognized. He was hoping that meant there was an assignment for them. It would probably be something simple, but still. Not having left this building for weeks on end made him feel claustrophobic. He turned the other knob, and the water stream reduced to a slow drip. He grabbed a towel and dried off while sitting down on his bed. He studied a large liver spot on his chest. Had it been there before? Who knew? He looked at the pile of dirty clothes at the foot of his bed. Some of them might still be good for another use. Then again, what was the point in showering if you were gonna put on dirty clothes? He rumaged around the pile and found the pants he'd been wearing. The only two things he always carried were a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He grabbed them from the pocket and then lit a cigarette. He grabbed a clean set of clothes from the closet and started getting dressed.
While dressing, he heard a knock at the door and looked up. Who would come here now? Whinney, he guessed. He pulled his pants up and then called out.
"Come in, it's unlocked."
The door opened, and Dolion stepped in.
"Catch ya at a bad time? I can come back later if you would like me to, but I won't stay long either way. I only came to speak to you about the assignment you are going on."
Apparently, he knew about it before Elijah did. Not that strange when he thought about it. Aeshma would have told Whinney as soon as she found out, and Whinney would have told the others in turn. But not him?
"My friend, I see it in your eyes that you want to know why Winney's not the one to tell you about it, and she told me and Hope. It's very much related to why I came here. I will tell you, but you won't necessarily like the answer. It's your own fault, but you didn't do anything on purpose. I am here to help you."
"What'd she tell you?"
"Not much, but to the observant eye, it was obvious. She wanted to tell you, but she also wanted not to intrude. She wants you to like her, you see?"
"I've got nothing against her. Why? Does she think I do?"
"Maybe not exactly. From what I could tell, she doesn't think you want to be around her. The first time all of us spent time together, she wanted to get out of here; that was clear. When you no longer joined her to meet with us, she wanted you to be there."
"Why? You all get along fine."
"You are not seeing this clearly, but as I told you, I know that you don't know better. When you spoke to her, you opened up, and in turn, she opened up to you. Do not forget that she is a Hand."
"She's not...?"
Suddenly, Elijha felt a knot in his stomach.
"Don't worry about that, my friend, she's not Aeshma. But opening up to her and then closing yourself off is confusing to her, and she wants to know why. To me, you were never a problem. She is not like me, and absolutely not like you."
Elijah nodded slowly. The knot loosened, but another weight had replaced it. Dolion looked at him knowingly and continued.
"See! Look at you now. You want to not cause her pain. I knew this already. That's why I came here. Please do your best to show her that you appreciate her during your assignment. Doing so will save her a lot of pain, and you will, in turn, certainly be spared physical pain."
Elijah sat down on the bed and lit another cigarette on the last embers of the previous. He knew that Dolion was right, as always. The two of them got along so well because of Dolion's uncanny ability to read people. Elijah, however, had no such skill. Whinney was certainly better at it than he was, but she didn't know him that well. Still, was it really his responsibility to take care of her? Wasn't that Aeshma's job? Sure, he wanted a partner who didn't hate him. He didn't dislike her at all, but they didn't need to be friends. Dolion broke his train of thought.
"You are thinking about this in the wrong way, I believe. You just want this problem to go away on its own. I understand that would be the easiest thing for you. That's not going to happen. You made yourself into someone she trusts, at least more than most others here. To leave her regretting that would be cruel, Elijah."
Had he really? One conversation hardly felt like enough to be someone she trusts. Elijah sighed deeply through his nose.
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Good, then I have done what I set out to do here. I will leave you now. I'm glad we could come to an understanding."
He held his hand out, and Elijah shook it.
"By the way, you shouldn't be smoking in here. I've noticed that Whinney does so as well, and I assume you were the one who told her that was ok."
Elijah schooed him out, and Dolion left smiling wide as ever.
Elijah sat quietly for a few minutes before leaving and walking to Mot's office. He thought about stopping by Whinney first, but had yet to figure out what to say to her. He figured that he should follow what Dolion told him, but it would probably be way easier once he had something like the assignment to speak about. He walked up the central staircase and noticed, as usual, that most people went out of their way to leave space between him and them. For the first time, he noticed how most agents were walking around in pairs. He wouldn't have expected it, but that reflection made the weight in his chest sink a bit further. When he stepped into Mot's office, Mot was smoking and eating a piece of plain bread.
"You shouldn't be smoking inside your office."
Mot swiveled his head to look at him.
"Are you trying to make a joke? Sit down."
Elijah did, then lit a cigarette of his own.
"Here's the deal. You and Whilheminia will be flown out to a place called...", He checked his notes, "Ua... O-ura-y... O-u-ray, Uora- Whatever. Once there, it's a clear-cut search and destroy scenario. You might be there for a few days, so you have a room booked at Hotel... Our-ay... for the week. Looks nice online. Suspected ritual site somewhere in the surrounding woods, so you're likely the one who'll handle it if there's nothing out of the ordinary going on."
"And Whinney?"
"It's a simple mission, so she shouldn't really have to do much. You should let her do most of the talking. Good practice, and you're no smooth talker. You explain to her what she needs to find out and let her take it from there."
"Alright. Who do we think did this? Should we be prepared for some engagement?"
"Unlikely. We're kinda late to the party, and whoever did this doesn't seem to have done anything else. Probably skipped town."
Mot handed him the papers he'd read from. Elijah took them, stood for a moment thinking if he needed anything more, then turned around.
"Oh, yeah, one more thing. You're leaving at 06:00 tomorrow morning, so get to bed early."
Elijah made a noncommittal sound of agreement on his way out.
He skimmed the papers on his way down to his room, or rather Whinney's room. Even if it hadn't been for Dolion, he would have had to go to her to discuss the assignment. There was no telling what Aeshma might have left out of her explanation, if she explained anything at all. He was just about to knock on her door when it swung open and Hope stepped out. The door hit Elijah's left shoulder, not enough to hurt, but enough to make him let out a startled grunt.
"OH MY GOD! I'm so sorry, Elijah! Are you alright?"
Hope's expression was an exaggerated mask of concern, all doe eyes. She actually looked as if she might cry for a moment before her entire demeanor changed, and a devious smirk replaced the sympathetic frown.
"You here to see Whinney, huh?"
She giggled.
"She might not want to see you, ya know". Then, in a pouty voice, "I'm pretty mad at you for ditching her."
Inside, he heard Whinney stand up suddenly. Elijah pushed past her and, in a low voice, told her to
"Shut up..."
She was actually much harder to push aside than her short self would suggest. She was practically all muscles beneath the way oversized shirt and suit jacket. Hope gasped as he shut the door behind him, and then he heard her burst out laughing before walking away humming. Whinney stood beside her bed, glaring at the door, then turned to Elijah.
"Hope's a fucking idiot sometimes, don't mind her."
"You're tellin' me."
Whinney sat back down.
"You here to discuss the assignment, right?"
There was a note of something in her voice that Elijah couldn't place, so he proceeded carefully.
"Yeah... did Aeshma explain everything alright?"
"I dunno tbh."
Tbh?
"She explained everything as if she were talking to a child, but I only understood half of what she was saying. Like I would have an equally hard time understanding an airplane and a fucking 'suspected one piece ritual circlet forest ritual whatever the fuck'".
Elijah flipped through the papers.
"Suspected: first circle ritual in the forest. Mhm, did you understand that part?"
"kinda, not really. It's like an easy ritual to do, right?"
Elijah sat down at the desk and laid the papers out.
"Sorta, yeah. First circle means that the ritual consists of only one circle. Those are only made to call on something, usually one of the 'gods', or influences."
"Yeah, that makes sense. I understand perfectly."
Even Elijah could tell that she was being ironic.
"I'm no expert, but you can think of it like a kind of weird language. The circles are like words, and the first word is always an influence that sets the tone for the rest of the words. I don't fully understand, but that's not our job."
Whinney looked no less confused.
"So what does that tell us? Why's it in the papers if it's not our job?"
"It tells us that we won't meet anything weird, and it might show that whoever wrote it isn't that skilled. Tho without seeing the circle we can't tell for sure. It gets, like, exponentially harder to get it right when you draw more circles."
Whinney pulled at the hem of her shirt and pulled out one of the medallions on her chain. She counted three circles.
"Are these the same? My ones have three."
"Yeah, that would make them third circle; everyone outside the first conveys some meaning based on the first. I think the most advanced ones I've ever seen were fourth. If you try making something beyond that, you're bound to screw up, I guess."
"Oooh? So these things are like really dangerous then?"
"can't say, I've got no clue what the symbols mean except for the center one. That one's the Hand."
"'Cause I'm the Hand?"
"Right. Anyway, the assignment might take us a few days, but since it's only a first circle, it shouldn't give me much trouble. The ritual location being in the forest suggests that it's probably associated with Death, so I'll take care of it."
"Is the forest always Death? That doesn't make sense."
"No, but any trees with needles are mostly Death. Trees with leaves are usually Life. It's not really hard and fast, tho. Things can invoke different powers depending on context."
"Sounds way too wishy washy."
"I guess, but you get a feel for it. I even heard some people can see the aura of things and people to tell what the powers inside them are."
The two of them sat up for a long time discussing the assignment, and Elijah tried to answer any related questions Whinney had. The conversation had started with Elijah, a little bit nervous, expecting things to be really awkward. Dolion had made him think she was mad at him or something. Not that he'd actually said so. In reality, he had no real problems talking to her. A few times, he wondered if she was just hiding that she was pissed at him, but when the clock was ten past twelve, he'd been sitting in her room for hours. Time had passed by far quicker than he'd realized, and neither of them had even thought about dinner. The conversation had strayed from the assignment to a more general 'what's going on' discussion. Apparently, Hope had been there to gossip. What exactly there was to gossip about Elijah couldn't imagine, and whinney only hinted at what might have been said. He wasn't that interested in gossip, but he listened and nodded along nonetheless. After a while, Whinney had lain down on her bed instead of sitting up, and Elija had noticed her yawn a few times. He was mid-annotating her copy of the handout when he looked up and saw that she had fallen asleep. He looked at her for a second. He noticed that the weight in his chest was totally gone, and in its stead, he felt a kind of strange, unusual warmth. She turned and started to snore softly. He picked up both sets of papers and left. He could finish up in his room.