Chapter 289: All the world’s a stage (Patreon)

As Yog has Dave casually stroll into the courtyard, walking with more swagger than I’ve ever seen him do, I almost have trouble believing how well our plan is going.

In front of us, a twosome of hosts steps into the portal, and gets whisked away to the Yin-Yang Temple in Hub Two.

“Any chance I can get a hint of where we’re going, at least?” Yog chimes. “Now that we’ve lost the crowd?”

Sudo has Jacob glance around suspiciously, before he leans in so she can stage whisper conspiratorially at him. “Our goal is located in a valley of flowers that gleam in the night.”

“I see,” Yog chimes amusedly. “The Moonshade Glade, then, interesting...”

As we step up to the portal, however, I quietly release a connection to a conjuration of my own. Miles from here, one of the conjured shells held in Longlegs’ cheek Fades away.

A cyan one.

This is it!

I wait impatiently for a reply, but when I get it, my stomach sinks.

The button in Alec’s pocket that Suri causes to Fade isn’t cyan. It’s yellow.

Shit, did she run into trouble? Now what?!

With a brief flex of Espir, I flash a yellow light at Kaitlynn and Sudo, signalling that they need to delay.

Farouq’s standing is simply too low to address Yog directly, making it very difficult for me to stop him from stepping into that portal right now.

Thankfully, Kaitlynn is on the ball.

“Actually, I was wondering,” she chimes, causing Yog to stop Dave and turn him around. “What about Kai?”

“What about him?” Yog asks after a beat, sounding puzzled.

“Well, he owns Kaitlynn, right?” she asks. “Shouldn’t we include him?”

“I don’t know,” Sudo stage-whispers after a moment. “He didn’t bring her, did he?”

“No, I suppose he didn’t,” Kaitlynn chimes. “But he still officially owns her, right?”

Her question is clearly directed at Yog this time, who’s just been quietly listening to their back and forth.

“Of course!” he chimes smoothly. “The Council of Stars is keeping her quarantined for a little while, due to safety concerns, but she’ll naturally be returned to him afterwards. And, if that’s impossible for whatever reason, he’ll be generously compensated. Now, you may include him if you so choose, but please remember that I do have other business to attend to, still.”

A brief silence falls over the group, but right before anyone answers, another button disappears from Alec’s pocket.

A cyan one.

Oh, thank Goddess...

I can’t really signal Kaitlynn right now, but thankfully I don’t need to, as she was clearly paying attention to the buttons.

“Of course,” she chimes. “Let’s just go; maybe we’ll bring him next time, after Kaitlynn’s been returned to him.”

“As you wish,” Yog chimes chipperly, as Dave once more moves towards the portal.

But right at that moment, a familiar voice speaks up from the side. “Well, would you look at that. My nemeses, reunited.”

My stomach sinks when Dave stops in his tracks and turns around to face Dominique.

Then he chuckles. As in Dave, not Yog. In fact, come to think of it, that was Dominique who spoke just now, moving her mouth and everything, like a real fleshling.

“Dominique,” Dave says, sounding like himself yet not like himself in a way that sets my hairs on end. “Always a pleasure.”

Are they friggin’ role-playing right now? Ugh, this is one of those social games Suri warned us about, isn’t it? I already hate them. Sounds like Yog has mind-melded with Dave, even...

I’d love nothing more than to tell the Peilor riding Dominique’s forehead to fuck off, but one glance at her cut tells me she’d probably have me killed for the infraction. Dominique lost in the semi-finals, which would have netted her Peilor a spot in the Pellucid tier. However, that is clearly a Lustrous-tier cut...

I guess that tracks with those Lustrous-tier bastards picking the best hosts and even cheating on the show. After all, Dominique was quite obviously favoured to win the crystal door, in the end.

“A pleasure?” Dominique asks. “Really now? My, and here I thought you despised me.”

“Well, you know what the humans say,” Dave says, stepping towards her, away from the portal. “There’s a fine line between repulsion and longing.”

That is so not the saying. Also, are they flirting right now? Because that is all kinds of messed up.

Then another Peilor manoeuvres their host towards the now unoccupied portal, and my heart jumps into my throat.

I sever the connection to one of my yellow shells at the speed of thought, hoping with all my being that I’m in time.

The host steps through. Half a long second later, another button in Alec’s pocket disappears.

It’s cyan.

Thank Goddess...

I turn my attention back to the creepiness in front of me. By now, Yog has manoeuvred Dave within touching distance of Dominique, where they’re having far too intense eye contact.

Seriously, this is not okay. I can tell from the tension in Alec’s body that he agrees with me. However, Farouq is officially a Flawed-tier Peilor, so he really has no standing to speak to these two, and we can’t afford to offend Yog...

“You surprise me,” Dominique practically purrs, stepping in even closer. “I have to say though, I’m sceptical. You see, I always got the feeling that you were more partial to your friend... Alec.”

Wait, what?

Dave takes two heavy steps back, as if struck, before melodramatically looking back at us.

I can feel Alec fighting against the Command that helps him keep his face straight, probably trying to gape like a fish.

Oh crap...

<Alec,> I send quickly, communicating at a speed much faster than possible through speech. <I’m going to remove your facial Commands now, get ready.>

<What, why?> he replies just as swiftly.

<Because that was a clear invitation to join their little game, and we can’t afford to displease Yog right now! You said you took improv classes for a while, right?>

<Well, yeah, but I wasn’t exactly—>

<Great! Go improvise, now!>

A split second later, Alec’s face contorts into what I can only hope comes off as believable confusion as he raises a shaking hand to his chest and gasps like a third-rate actor. “Dave, is that... true?”

With some luck, the nervous tremor in his voice will simply be taken as part of the act.

Dave hangs his head, and lets out a deep sigh. “This is not the way I had wished for my secret to come to light, but... yes, it’s true. I love you.”

Good Goddess, they’re roleplaying one of those friggin’ soap operas the Peilor produce, aren’t they?

Unfortunately, Alec does not seem partial to the genre, as he doesn’t manage to accomplish much more than standing there, gaping at Dave in shock.

Just as I’m about to mentally shout a suggestion at him, tell him to say something, anything, Loudmouth joins the fray.

“Aack!” the big Hoig suddenly croaks. “But Loudmouth thought Friend Alec and Friend Jacob...” Loudmouth trails off, dramatically clasping a webbed hand in front of his mouth that barely covers a third of the orifice’s width.

Damn, Loudmouth’s a natural; he totally sounded like he believed that! I guess watching all of that crap TV paid... No, he actually believes it, doesn’t he?

Either way, it takes the heat off of Alec, as all eyes snap to Jacob.

For a moment, our dark-haired friend remains quiet, and I begin to fear Sudo’s Commands aren’t broad enough to cover this eventuality, but then he sighs. “I guess we can’t hide it anymore,” he says, sounding surprisingly natural as he fixes Dave with a glare. “I’m sorry, Dave, but you can’t have Alec.”

“Oh?” Dominique asks, leaning in with intrigue in her eyes. “And why is that?”

“Because...” Jacob trails off, and suddenly he’s right in front of me, dipping Alec back into a scorching kiss, eliciting a ‘shocked’ gasp from Dave.

Damn, way to commit, Jacob!

Under the angle from which I’m viewing, I mostly get a very close-up view of Sudo, which is kinda awkward.

Then Jacob pulls back, righting Alec even as he defiantly faces Dave. “Because he’s mine.”

“Well well,” Dominique says, stepping a little closer to Dave. “Perhaps I have a shot with you after all. Where are you all off to, anyway?”

Crap, maybe we played this wrong...

Her line of inquiry is making me very nervous, but from how Alec is still lightly swaying on his feet, I fear he’s currently not going to be of much use in putting a stop to it...

“I’m not entirely sure,” Dave replies conspiratorially. “But I’ve been told we’re off to view a little secret of the Blue Dragons.”

“A Blue Dragons secret?” Dominique repeats, startling me out of my ruminations. “Well, you know I’m all about uncovering those. Shall I accompany you?”

Oh shit, say no, say no!

“Aack!” Loudmouth suddenly croaks, sounding deathly afraid. “Scary lady can’t learn secret! Blue Dragons only! Exclusive!”

A surprised look passes over Dominique’s face.

“Hmm, that’s right,” Dave muses. “This was supposed to be our private little jaunt, wasn’t it? What say you, Jacob?”

Jacob cocks his head to the side. “It does seem a bit foolhardy for us to invite along our only surviving nemesis, of all people, to learn our secrets.”

After a moment, Dave laughs, though the sound is nothing like him. Then he takes a step back from Dominique. “Well, you heard my friends, I’m afraid our secrets will have to remain exactly that: secret. Exclusive to the Blue Dragons.”

A flash of anger passes over Dominique’s face, but it’s gone as quickly as it appeared. “Is that so?” she drawls coolly. “Fine then. Enjoy.”

And with that, she turns around and stalks off.

Dave’s face slackens as Yog drops out of character, and I hastily put up some new Commands to help Alec do the same.

“Well well well,” Yog chimes with a laugh. “That was quite ballsy of you, Lyrack. Lusette is the vindictive type, you know?”

“I hope you don’t mind; we really did intend to keep this exclusive,” Kaitlynn chimes smoothly.

“Oh no, not at all; that was hilarious,” Yog chimes happily. “I just hope you’re prepared for the consequences. Anyway, let us continue!”

From Yog’s tone, despite his amusement, he has no intention of shielding Lyrack from said consequences. It’s interesting how he doesn’t mention Sudo in this; does that mean he’s aware of Sudo’s special status as Starmother’s agent? Either way, that’s all of secondary concern, as Dave takes a step towards the portal.

I sneakily vanish a cyan shell, and Suri removes another cyan button in return.

This time, nothing interrupts us, and my heart skips a beat as Dave swaggers through the portal.

<Steady now,> I tell Alec, as I feel his muscles practically vibrate with eagerness.

<I know!> he sends back. <Stop talking to me!>

Tch.

Going through at a regular pace, one by one, is agony, but finally it’s our turn, and Alec steps into the portal, allowing the cool swirling darkness to envelop him and draw him away.

Author's note:

The whole soap bit was kind of a late edition. It's something I'm retroactively adding foreshadowing for in chapters you've already read, so I hope it didn't feel too out of left field. ;)

All in all I had a lot of fun with this chapter, hope you enjoyed it too! ^^