[FRAG] Grieve in Blood

"Do you miss it?"

Click. Sundae glanced up, pen now in the closed position, from his desk. Across from the mahogany wood stood Wage, hands politely folded over his lap, standing at full attention. Neither spoke for a second, Sundae narrowing his eyes, Wage's smile politely widening, and the noise of the aquarium filter filling in the silence. 

With a sigh, Sundae glanced back down to his papers. They were annoying, but integral documentation on the population of his Realms. Absolutely required to have the Haven's many worlds function as they normally did. He clicked his pen a few times, relishing in the satisfying noise and repetitive motion. The amount of administrative work was exhausting, but rewarding.

Still, it could wait for a few moments. "Miss what?"

"Being an Overseer."

Sundae glanced up again, although this time his jaw was more firmly set, his eyes narrowed. His finger paused on the pen, the clicking briefly halted. Wage stared back, blinking once, softly, but standing his ground.

"No," Sundae spoke, very slowly and deliberately. "Why do you ask?"

Wage glanced aside, one hand's fingers tapping on the other's. "Just been giving some thought to it." he sat down in the chair across from Sundae, kicking his legs up on the desk. "You hear about what happened with Magnotris?"

"No, I didn't." Sundae attempted to brush Wage's feet off, but the other didn't budge.

"He got offered an Overseer position."

Sundae paused, one hand still on Wage's ankle. The other shot him a beam as the cogs slowly turned in his head. The chair creaked slightly as Sundae leaned back, a small frown forming on his face, placing his hands together. Magnotris. He knew who that was, right? The name wasn't ringing any bells-

-Hm, wait. Magnotris - he'd definitely heard it before. Shouted, perhaps? During... oh. Oh. 

Sundae looked up to Wage, recognition on his face. The other nodded, a bit too smugly for Sundae's tastes. "Yeah. That Magnotris." 

"Of course," Sundae seethed, standing and pacing past his desk, hands linking behind his back. "There hasn't been anyone since me, and the one they pick is - do you know who nominated him?"

"Eclisse, I think." Wage didn't appear perturbed. 

"Of course the moron would," he muttered darkly, turning on a heel to pace in the other direction. "Nominate another Overseer with some talent and get the rewards for being the first to call for it. Really, it's absurd that Eclisse ever was even made an Overseer- but that's, well, you know-"

"-Magnotris declined."

Sundae froze, completely, in place. He turned to regard Wage with a narrowed glare, the light glinting off his horns and glasses. He was rewarded with a wide grin from Wage.

Declined. Declined an invitation from the Overseers to join their ranks. The only other person who had declined was-

"I know, right? The Coalition is all up in arms about it. I heard the Overseers are kinda pissed off."

Sundae slowly slid back into his seat, picking up his pen again. He didn't write, simply clicking it a few times. "I can imagine."

"Honestly, I thought Arco Iris was going to get the invitation first," Wage gestured, picking up a snow globe on Sundae's desk to absently shake it, "he always seemed a little more in-depth with Coalition stuff. Magnotris... he was always.... ehhhh. I'm more surprised that the Overseers don't know about him and his illegal shit."

"Do elaborate."

Wage shrugged, "He's just got a lot of connections to a lot of people. Most of them in the underground parts of the COR. Kinda notorious for doing shady shit to get his way, I guess? I wouldn't be surprised if he had people in the Haven-"

"-What? He has people in the Haven?" Sundae sat straight up, pen clattering against the desk. 

Wage sat up just as quickly, waving a hand, "Er- no, I just thought that maybe-"

Sundae tuned him out. Not important anymore. If the Haven was at risk, he needed to act. Allowing the Overseers' most recent choice to gain a foothold in the Haven would be idiotic, even if Magnotris had declined the invitation. He'd seen Magnotris in combat - if the other wanted to prove a point to the Haven, he would do it, Blessing or no. The half-buried memory of Magnotris sinking his blade into Sundae's shoulder shuddered, dredging itself up from the depths.

He was a force to be reckoned with. Best make a point now, when he least expected it, and avoid having to deal with him later. Put Magnotris in his place, and-

Sundae blinked, glancing down. Wage's hands were firmly on his shoulders, and the other stared up at him, eyes wide, frowning visibly. 

"What?" Sundae managed, frowning right back.

"I said maybe he has people in the Haven. I don't know for certain. Don't go running off and making some crazy plan, okay?"

Sundae rolled his head back. "I was not going to."

"You literally got out of your chair and started mumbling to yourself." Wage patted Sundae's chest, "I know, okay, it's just overzealousness, but sit back down. If there were spies, we'd handle them. You know that."

"That doesn't mean that my assistance isn't needed." still, Sundae begrudgingly obeyed, slowly lowering himself back into the chair. Wage let go of his shoulders. "Tell me more about Magnotris."

"If you insist," Wage slipped back into his seat. "Promise me this isn't just your way of intel?"

"Promise."

Wage nodded, but still rolled his eyes. "Right, so. Obviously turned down the recent Overseer position, gave no reason why, so everyone's still trying to figure it out. I bet it's something to do with his partner, though. Magnotris is allll over him - if he hears you talking shit on Morning Star he'll show up and beat your teeth in. He's got a Magninium problem I think, but who in the COR doesn't, amiright?"

"Very funny."

"Yeah, I know, right? You'd think of all the groups, the Coalition would have the least amount of addiction-"

"No, I know that," Sundae dismissively waved a hand, "go back to talking about Magnotris."

"Oh, right, sorry. Anyways, if he doesn't like someone for whatever reason, they always get royally fucked over. He's literally got people everywhere I think, it's kinda nuts - like if he hates you, you're fucked. You're gonna be arrested for crimes you didn't do or some shit. He's notorious for that."

Sundae leaned back in his chair, staring at his desk in silence.

"Most recent example I know about is uh, what happened with Wellov. Almost got the guy demoted - he's one of the anti-Shards units in Research and Remove, I think. Guy was on probation for like, months afterwards. People are saying Magnotris had something to do with Opalescent's recent punishment, but I don't believe them. Mostly because I can't think of why he'd do something like that? With Wellov, it made sense...."

"Remind me what Wellov did?"

"Oh, it was when he - he made that accusation, that Magnotris was funnelling stuff to the underground Magninium smuggling ring. They didn't get any evidence for it so Magnotris got off completely free, and I heard that Wellov got caught with one of the artifacts from the Sanctum a while later. They found evidence that he'd stolen it - somehow, I dunno, I guess Magnotris paid off witnesses? And he got reprimanded."

Sundae tilted his head back. "What a fantastic enemy to have," he muttered, voice dripping with sarcasm. 

Wage shot him a grin. "I know, right?"

Sundae stood, running a hand over his pen before abandoning it at his desk. "Let's set someone to keep an eye on him, then. If he does anything that puts the Haven at risk, we have an avenue to reprimand him. If the Overseers won't keep him in line, then we will."

"You sure you wanna dabble in Magnotris?"

"The safety of the Haven is paramount," Sundae intoned, strolling towards his window to peer out at the swirling expanse below. "Fetch me Panopticon."