[FRAG] Grieve in Blood

"Hiya there!"

Morning Star looked up as the bell on his office's door chimed. Another Fragment closed the door behind himself, a bright, big smile plastered on his face. Morning Star shifted to move some of his paperwork out of the way as they settled down in the chair directly across from him. He gave them a smaller smile, but they were temporarily distracted, drinking in all of the details of his crowded, but cozy office.

"Good morning," Morning Star cut in. They turned to face him once more. "Welcome to Rest and Reformation. Can I help you?"

"You're Morning Star, right?" his grin never lowered.

Morning Star kept his own smile, albeit a quieter one. "Yes, I am. I can assist you with anything relating to Rest and Reformation."

"Great!" they offered a hand, "I'm Cy, he-him. The receptionist told me you could help me with my problem!"

"Sure, I'd love to. Could you describe your problem in detail?" Morning Star shook. Cy's handshake was firm and confident. Gripped him slightly too tightly. 

The hand slipped back to Cy's lap. "Right! I'd like to make a report on a potentially-collapsing Timeline."

Easy enough. This wouldn't eat up too much time, he could get back to his statistics easily. They weren't terribly important, but it had been a fun little project he'd tinkered on between assignments - putting survey data from the COR members into neat little charts and graphs. Honestly, it was useless in the grand scheme of things, but it was something fun to do during work. 

With a nod, Morning Star turned to his computer, freeing his mouse from under some spare papers. He pulled up a spreadsheet, highlighting an empty cell near the bottom. "Alright, we can definitely do that. What is the Timeline designation?"

"It's JH-8149-A."

Hm. He couldn't remember anything bad happening in the JHs. They were relatively simple, if he remembered right? The keyboard clicked as Morning Star typed away. He hit tab. "Mkay, thank you. Is this your Timeline or are you reporting someone else's?"

"Oh, it's not mine. Is that alright?"

"That's fine, yes. Do you know any Fragments who are assigned to it?"

Cy paused to thoughtfully lift a hand to his chin. His smile lessened, but didn't fully disappear. "Ah, I don't believe I do."

"Still quite alright. Can you describe the cause of the potential collapse to the best of your ability?" he quietly skipped over that cell and moved onto the next. 

"Well," Cy leaned back in his chair, linking his hands together in front of his chest, "there's a magic-corrupted Fragment running amok."

Morning Star froze, then let his head slowly turn to Cy. "Ah, that's - that would be an emergency, you don't need to go through this protocol, let me-" 

Cy reached forwards, catching Morning Star's hand just as it closed over his cellie. He leaned forward as Morning Star leaned back slightly. "That won't be necessary."

"I-" Morning Star blinked. "I need to alert the Overseers. Magic corruption is above my-"

"-I subdued the Fragment."

Morning Star blinked, again, albeit far more delayed. Cy tilted his head ever so slowly, eyes half-lidded. He was calm, ridiculously so. It was unsettling - he'd seen plenty of people who could keep cool in the face of danger, but this had long since passed cool and marched right into glee. Yeah, that sounded right. Cy was gleeful about this. 

"It's not an emergency," Cy continued, tilting his head further.

"Alright...."

He slowly drew his hands back, Cy letting go and sitting back down. In near-complete silence, Morning Star typed into the next spreadsheet cell, staring at his faint reflection on his screen. This was weird. Stay calm. 

"Any other comments?" he was grateful his voice didn't crack.

Cy paused to glance up at the ceiling again. "Uhm, no, not about the Timeline. You should send some folks out to check it out sooner than later, though. Dunno how long the trap I set up will hold them."

"I will be sure to," Morning Star mumbled.

Cy sat up again, smiling brightly, "But enough about the Timeline! Let's talk about what I really came here for."

Morning Star glanced over, shoulders still tensed, stiff as a board. Cy had directed his gaze to the paperwork on the desk, muzzle pointed straight down as he scanned the contents. Warily, Morning Star reached forwards to scoot the messy stacks closer to himself. 

"No need to be shy!" Cy chirped, still in good humor. He leaned back. "How long have you been working here."

"Uh." Morning Star glanced down, at the drawer to his right. The knife he'd gotten from Pretty was in there. "I don't know... I guess soon after I joined the COR."

"Did you have a Timeline?"

Morning Star slowly skated an arm closer to the drawer. "Not that I remember, no. Why?"

"Just curious!" Cy beamed. "I didn't have a Timeline either. Guess that makes us peas in a pod, huh?"

"Sure, if you like." his fingers curled around the knob.

Cy's eyes locked onto his hand. "Oh, I wouldn't do anything rash if I were you."

"I wasn't," Morning Star spoke softly. "Just getting something."

"Okay, but no funny moves." Cy pointed at the other's muzzle. "I already used a bit too much magic to knock out that other Fragment."

Morning Star narrowed his eyes slightly, "I don't think you want to harm me."

"I don't! I would really prefer not to. So don't give me a reason, okay?"

Morning Star glanced to the drawer again. He wanted to grab his knife. It made him feel safe, even if he was poor in combat and probably didn't know how to use it effectively. It was safety. 

He lowered his hand back into his lap.

Cy watched in silence, smile never leaving his face. Once Morning Star linked his hands together once more, the other's eyes flicked to his face. "See, perfect! Nothing rash. Just two guys having a chat, right?"

"Two guys having a chat," Morning Star robotically agreed.

"Right. Where was I... oh! I heard about... well, you know." 

"Please clarify."

"The whole," Cy made a circular gesture, rolling his eyes slightly, "Overseer incident, we'll call it."

Oh, for fuck's sake. More harassment over what Magnotris had done. Morning Star's hands balled slightly into fists, hidden under the desk, in darkness. His expression didn't even twitch.

"Ah," he mumbled.

"You're Magnotris' - paaaaartner? Boyfriend? Husband?" Cy smiled. "Something of that sort, right?"

"Yes." that was old news. There was nothing lost by admitting it.

A slow nod. "Mmhm. And, forgive me if I'm wrong, but oh - you know the rumors. Something about how maybe a certain Magnotris declined because he was worried about a certain someone?"

"What do you want to know?" Morning Star's voice couldn't hold any firm anger or edge in it. He hated this dance, this weird time-waster. It felt like Cy was stalling.

"Oh, to-the-point. I like it. You're a good one, a good match for him." Cy's smile had too many teeth in it. "Just tell me... do you like Magnotris?"

Morning Star froze, blinking rapidly. He narrowed his gaze. "What kind of question is that? Of course I do."

"Right. Of course." Cy glanced to the side, tapping his fingers together, shifting his jaw slightly. 

Neither spoke. Cy was fully distracted staring at the far wall; Morning Star kept his eyes firmly locked on the other. In the case of an emergency, he could grab the knife. Yes. It would be easy, simple for him to do. Just reach over and snatch it. He'd be fine. Cy probably wouldn't pull a gun on him.

Oh, stars, please. No more guns. No more getting shot in his office.

"I have work I need to be doing," he managed, voice strangled. 

Cy turned towards him. The smile was long gone, but there was no malice or annoyance in his features. "Very important work," he agreed, sitting straight up and then standing. He offered a hand to Morning Star.

The other stared, green eyes locked onto the other's dark red fur. Slowly, Morning Star reached forwards, accepting. Cy's handshake was confident. Sure of itself.

He leaned in close. Morning Star could smell him. This was too close.

He tried to shift back, but Cy gripped his hand. Cy's toothy smile was an inch from his muzzle. 

"Nice meeting you, Morning Star." something cold pressed against his palm, almost painfully. "I'll be seeing you around?"

Cy let go and abruptly turned on his heel. Before Morning Star could process, the door slammed shut behind the other, bell chiming loudly. Morning Star sat in silence for a few seconds, mouth ajar, before glancing down at his palm.

A small platinum coin, marked with the symbol of the COR, sat in his hand. He flipped it over. Any inscriptions on the obverse had been either scraped away by hand or rubbed off over time. He flipped it again. 

The COR didn't mint coins.