Longest Tale Part 2
This is the second, more extensive part, really the first chapter of "The Longest Tale", the other mostly a prologue. As before, I claim my right to be sucky at English grammar and spelling, I don't want any mails or responses saying: "Good story but you gotta work on the language." Yeah, I know that so keep it to "Good story!" or "Lousy story!" Thank you!
Quickly sitting up in the bed at the knocks, Yuri found himself groggy, staring at a closed door.
"Yeah, yeah, what!?"
He heard a chuckle from the other side, easily identifying it as Hank's. He had heard it a lot last evening and there weren't a great chance there'd be more furres in his apartment right now.
"Get your ass out of bed, if you're gonna stay here you gotta lend a hand."
Muttering to himself he swung his legs over the edge, placing his feet on the fuzzy carpet. He reached out to grab the shirt he lazily hung over a chair before crashing into the bed. He hadn't slept this well in years.
He took the time while waking up to more properly explore the room. The walls were solid wood, something pretty rare these days but it was most likely just fake. Except the bed there was a table with a chair parked next to it and a closet right at the foot of the bed, so there was very little space to move around on.
Once dressed semi-properly; white t-shirt and blue shorts, his fox-tail sticking out through a hole.
"Hey, Hank, you mind lending me a few bucks to the buss?"
Yuri shouted before he opened the door, seeing Hank fixing breakfast.
"Just as the agreement said."
Yuri smiled and took the same place he did yesterday, watching Hank put various kinds of food on the table, like cheese, ham, milk and even honey.
"Hope ya ain't getting out of your way for me."
Hank shook his head and sat down on the opposite side of the table.
"Nah, it's nice having guests for once."
Yuri nodded and grabbed a slice of bread, the breakfast continuing to some loud laughter and girlish giggling.
Hank emptied his glass of milk.
"Say, why do you need to borrow cash?"
Yuri looked at him and smiled, taking a chunk from a sandwich he just made.
"I only got hard cash, stuff you can pay with in bars and nothing to pay the buss-ride with."
Hank laughed and shook his head, pulling out his wallet and tossing him a buss-card. Yuri smiled and quickly snatched it from the table, looking over the silver-coloured card.
"This get me to the station?"
Hank thought for a while then nodded, pouring himself some milk.
"Yeah, it should but what ya gonna do there?"
Yuri smirked and scratched his nose.
Watching Yuri, Hank for the first time saw a half-breed close up and revealed. His head was mostly shaped like a humans, small traits however was clearly visible. Like his ears or eyes, they were shaped a bit towards the canine-way. Beginning at his shoulder, he had started to grow a very orange-like fur, the further down you looked the fur thickened until he finally had become completely furre.
Yuri cocked his head a bit.
"Why you looking at me like that?"
Hank shook his head, blinking a few times before understanding the question.
"Sorry, never meant to offend you, it's just that..."
Before finishing the sentence, Yuri cut him off with a smile and that sparkle in his eyes.
"You've just never seen a half-breed before, right?"
Hank nodded, no wonder he dressed in such covering clothing if he had to withstand people staring at him all the time otherwise.
"Yeah, sorry."
Yuri shook his head and grinned a bit.
"Don't worry, it's quite okay."
The nod was quite uncertain, not sure whether he should trust his words or not.
"Come on, if you have to get to the station, you better catch the next buss out of here."
He'd never forget that puzzled look on Yuri's face as he stood up, scratching his side idly.
"Hm, can't wait to get rid of me, eh?"
It was hardly meant seriously as he was grinning sheepishly all the time. Hank snorted and pointed at the door.
"Get dressed and go before I change my mind."
Yuri smirked and avoided a swift swat, diving quickly for the door and closing it behind himself. Left was Hank with that odd sensation again but he was beginning to doubt it was attraction.
Upon arriving on the station, dressed in the same black outfit as the night before, he checked his watch, noting the time.
"Alright, still have fifteen minutes."
He looked around himself, quickly locating the toilet and heading in, tying his air back in a pony-tail while walking quickly towards it. Unclear thoughts spun in his head, why had he trusted this Hank so much so quickly? He usually let people wait for a few days before telling them about his strange inheritance.
The smell in the public toilet disgusted him, graffiti covering the wall, everything not pissed on was the toilets, basically. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and tried to pick out a familiar voice.
"Come, Elijah, know you're in here..."
There was silence for a short while before a door was slowly opened and a tall gentleman stepped out. He was obviously furre, being the equine he was.
"Oh please, half-breed, as if I was trying to hide."
Quickly abandoning the thought to lean against the wall, Yuri licked his lips.
"We both know you'd never take a crap at a place like this, Elijah..."
The equine, obviously called Elijah, turned toward Yuri. He was dressed in a fancy, black tuxedo with a white shirt beneath and black tie. He brushed some of his black fur straight on his cheek before fixing his eyes on Yuri again.
"You're very perceptive, half-breed... and you're early."
Yuri opened the door and stepped out backwards, keeping his eyes on Elijah until the wall was in the way.
He leaned against a commercial-pillar and waited for the Equine. Sure enough he opened the door and stepped out, looking around until he found Yuri again, straightening his collar and walking up to him.
"My employer needs you to... make a business-call to a former partner of his."
The thought was most for show, he knew the equine would continue with or without it. Yuri just made sure to note everything he could in his head.
"We believe this former partner sold valuable information that may... cause us some harm in future business."
Yuri chuckled and picked out a hand-held computer and gave it to the equine.
"Half now and half on delivery, just as usual... who's the target and what do you want done with it...?"
The equine gently took the computer and plugged some smaller disc in and gave it back.
Scanning over the info just quickly, he found several interesting details.
"24 years old and holding some valuable information of yours? A girl, huh, your boss' mistress or something?"
Elijah didn't answer and Yuri never even half-heartedly expected him to. Continuing to scan the information he smirked.
"Oh, I see... that makes a lot of sense... So, what's the job, get the information or just... liquidate?"
The reply was more or less agonized, so it didn't come easy from the equine.
"Find out who she sold it to, where the originals are and... terminate her."
Yuri sighed and handed the computer back to Elijah.
"Man, this job stinks... 20 millions and you'll have the information by tomorrow-night... She'll be dining with the swallows on the rocky shore..."
To his surprise, the equine shook his head and handed him a closed envelope.
"The deal must be closed tonight, she'll be visiting a party in zone 6 with her friend... get the information out of her and hand it to one of our agents... then dispose of her."
Nodding quickly, he snatched the offered computer.
"The job'll pay you 30 million credits if done without hassle."
He hated doing this but he had no choice or he'd be back in the camps again.
Yuri tucked the computer back in and opened the envelope, seeing a thin wad of cash and a pass-card to the club Elvira Neon. He sighed deeply and tucked the envelope together with the computer.
"Send my regards to your boss and tell him not to send these to me anymore..."
Elijah nodded and snatched a pair of sunglasses from the pocket on his chest, putting them on slowly.
"We'd hand it to the Hammer but he's already taken..."
He turned towards Yuri and leaned down slightly to look him in the eyes.
"Don't fail or Hammer'll have two to liquidate."
Yuri looked away from Elijah and snorted.
"I haven't failed ya yet, Elijah old boy, I ain't about to start."
And with that the conversation was ended, Elijah headed for the tracks while Yuri walked over to locker 1295.
Finding exactly what he wanted, a black sport-bag tucked in the back and above it hung a belt with his trusted semi-automatic, customized handgun from model-series 203, created 2354. He whispered to himself, it was on the verge of just a thought:
"My trustworthy pal..."
He knelt down and opened the bag, checking so the clothes were still in it then snatching the belt and tucking it into the clothes.
Hank unlocked the door as Yuri knocked on it, smiling as Hank greeted him.
"So, you got what you wanted?"
Chuckling he entered the bar and headed for the apartment, bag hung over his shoulder. He gestured in the air with paw before entering the home.
"Yeah, and then some."
Hank cocked an eyebrow but decided not to push it any further, knowing his line of work well enough. He never had time to talk more before Yuri locked himself in his room.
"Huh, so much for being friendly..."
He pondered the thought if he made a misjudgement of Yuri's character, if he'd just been played by a professional. Either way, he disbanded the thought since he had a bar to open.
Inside his room, Yuri unpacked his bag and hung everything up neatly in the closet. Left on the bed were some moderately modern clothes; a red sweater with various symbols on it and black, torn jeans.
"That'd get me into the club without any problem."
He then turned his attention to the gun, shimmering a bit in the faint light. He and that gun had seen many corners. Each time they'd pulled through but it was just a matter of time before their luck ended.
"You and me, old buddy, just you and me."
Keeping his voice down so Hank wouldn't go and think he was crazy, he stood alone in the room, viewing over the dossier he had received on his target.
Alicia Mariah Silveranchor, 24 years old with a good-looking career as an executive of one of the largest food-chains in the city. With the name Silveranchor, of course, it wasn't so weird she achieved such high prosperity so quickly. That named belonged to the biggest mafia-family in town, the very one Yuri worked mostly for. The old boss had hired him to kill his own daughter.
Yuri was far from innocent; he'd seen his fair share of bloodshed and cause a whole lot of it too. He loathed doing these jobs but so far it had only been "bad" men but this was different. As far as he knew, she just had the bad fortune of being born in a rotten family while she had a pure heart. He was kind of in love with her, even though they had never really spoken.
But he had to do it, or he'd be the one dining with seagulls on the rocky shore. He strapped the gun on top of the red sweater, safely stored at his side next to his small computer. Then he pulled a black leather-jacket over that, zipping it all the way up. In the mirror he saw little trace of being armed and there'd be little if no controls on his way up.
The time was already seven and he'd been told she'd be arriving to the club at eight so he better get going quickly. He stopped at the bar and called Hank over.
"Listen, I gotta go out on some business... don't wait up."
Hank nodded, looking quite concerned as he heard the news.
"Listen, Yuri, if ya want you can jump out of that business and help me here instead."
Shaking his head, Yuri stepped around the bar, close to where he had been sitting the other day.
"It ain't that easy, Hank. This is something I have to do."
Hank merely nodded in response and sighed.
"Take care, Yuri, and please, try to be back before I close down."
Yuri nodded and quickly left the bar, regretting what he had to do all the way up to zone 4.
The buss stopped right outside the club, being slightly of a pop-culture thing of this century. Elvira Neon was one of those places the nobles came in secret to drink and drug their ears off, a lot of shadowy business took place within these club's walls, in the inner parts. Prostitutes offered themselves to everyone in the line in and it didn't get better on the inside, basically it was just a huge brothel.
Yuri walked up to the bouncer who immediately stepped in the way.
"I doubt you're a VIP..."
He never got to finish the sentence, what ever he was supposed to say, before the silver-card was stuck right up under his nose.
"Just let me in, bulldozer."
The bouncer quickly nodded, unhooking the red wire and stepping aside to allow the "VIP" passage. The line groaned loudly as the bouncer closed the path again, still not allowing anyone else in.
The club was definitely techno-themed. There were no "happy" colours, all metal and all fabric was either black or very, very dark red. Strippers danced on stages along the walls or cages hung from the ceiling, and some band with no self-respect played some screechy, horrible "music". Yuri preferred never setting paw in one of these places but it wasn't his first visit here.
Finding his way to a railing at the balcony, he over-looked the entire club. He scanned the crowd, looking for his target, the young Alicia. The lights and smoke-effects annoyed him, clouding his vision a bit but none the less, after a bit of effort he found her.
She was dancing with some guy, very close and intimate. For a foolish moment there he thought they'd be a couple but a loving couple hardly hooked up in a place like this. He saw the male depart from her, ploughing through the dancing crowd. Interpreting the gestures, Yuri figured he just went for drinks. Quickly he came up with a plan and headed for the guy.
The male spun around as Yuri tapped him on the shoulder, smiling widely as he looked him over.
"Mmm, a half-breed, you're exotic enough for my taste."
Yuri winked a bit, licking his lips.
"That a drink for me, lovely."
He hated it but the male feline seemed to be interested enough to fall for it. As easy as ABC, the male caught on and handed Yuri a glass of some disgusting-looking drink.
"I know the owner of this club, how about you and I get a room and... you know."
Yuri smirked and nodded a bit, looking over at the lone Alicia.
The male looked over in the direction Yuri had been looking, shrugging a bit.
"She's just someone I met but she seems hot and willing enough..."
He turned his head to look at Yuri again, observing his interest in her and... completely misjudging it.
"Want her to join in as well?"
The male had a dirty-looking expression, he had obviously done this before. Yuri nodded and chuckled a bit, taking a sip of the drink, regretting it horribly as it tasted worse than it looked.
"Yeah, she looks interesting..."
The cat laughed and nodded.
"I got a home not far from here, how about you, me and her... crawl our way over there?"
This was easier than Yuri had hoped for. But suddenly he felt someone poking him in the back. Turning around, he looked straight into the face of a smaller dragon, quite female judging from the curves.
"Boss Elvira wants to talk to you."
Yuri turned around to the cat and shrugged.
"I'll be right back, okay?"
The cat nodded and shouted after him as he slowly departed through the crowd after the dragon:
"I'll just go fill her in!"
Yeah, you go do that, disgusting feline, Yuri thought to himself as he was lead up the stairs.
Elvira was a quite well-curved bunny and he had dealt with her before during one of his assignments.
"Rumour in my closest circle has it you're after Alicia Silveranchor, Yuri?"
Elvira's voice always seemed so happy but when she got mad, the voice was enough to knock you over.
"Yeah, Elvira, that's right."
Elvira stood up and walked over to a large window in the wall of her office, looking down over the dancing crowd and her eyes instantly fell on Alicia.
"I can't let you do it, Yuri."
Utterly shocked he approached the bunny, tracing her gaze to his target.
"You've never interfered with my business before, Elvira, please don't start now either."
It was sudden and totally unexpected, for once something caught Yuri off guard. He fell to the ground after the slap, rubbing his now red cheek.
"Fuck, Elvira! Don't do this!"
Elvira's eyes were furious, trying to stare Yuri through the red-carpeted floor. He stood up, chewing a bit before cracking his neck.
"Step down from the assignment, Yuri! You don't have any idea what you're getting yourself into."
Around the same time, the band finally switched song to a bit slower one. Yuri rolled his eyes and raises his head against Elvira, as if shielding himself with the palm of his hand.
"You know who my employer is, Elvira, I'll be dead if I pull out."
Elvira sat in the red, leather sofa at the window. Yuri didn't even want to think how many had fucked her in that sofa.
"You'll die either way, Yuri, the information Alicia is carrying is too important to be wasted on the likes of Silveranchor."
Instead he moved his arm and pointed at Alicia.
"May I remind you that she's also Silveranchor?"
Elvira groaned and hid her eyes behind her paws. Yuri knew something was terribly wrong, otherwise Elvira would never have bothered to bring him up here but he needed to know more.
She discarded the two guards standing at the door out with a wave of her hand, leaving the two completely alone in the office, which was more or less completely red: red carpet, red wallpaper and red furniture. Even Elvira herself was dressed in red, if it hadn't been for her grey fur she'd blend in perfectly. He hated this colouring even though he found it rather erotically stimulating in a perverted way.
Elvira stood up and walked over to the desk, opening a file that had been lying on there all the time.
"Alicia Keystone, adopted by Arthur Silveranchor at the age of 2, having found her abandoned at the subway-station. The resemblance was striking and the fear of it being a bastard-child from one of his earlier lovers made him take the child in."
She looked up to see if she had his attention, but instead of being granted with complete awe and surprise, she received a question.
"I have no clue why you're telling me this. My objective is to find the information and discard of her..."
Elvira would've blown steam through her long ears would she'd been able to.
She knitted her paw together to a fist and raised it at Yuri.
"You're an idiot, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into..."
Yuri was getting obviously sicker of this conversation the further it progressed. He crossed his arms over his chest, one resting in a good position to draw his gun quickly.
"Cut it out, Elvira, I don't care anymore."
With that, he ended the discussion and quickly drew his gun, point it directly at her head. A small, red dot pointed out more or less exactly where the bullet would strike.
"A move and you're dead, hun."
Elvira, a bit shocked, reacted nervously by quickly throwing herself to the floor.
The glass exploded into a million, tiny pieces that rained down over the crowd close to the window. Shortly after a figure leapt out of the now open hole and landed almost perfectly, a loud thud and the sound of shattering glass. And the figure was holding a gun. The crowd almost instantly spread in all direction towards the exits.
Alicia found herself in the middle of chaos, being dragged in some weird direction, not knowing where. Like a leaf in the wind or a ship-broken in a raft without any means of propulsion, she was pulled in a direction she had no intentions of ever going. But just as suddenly as it had started, someone snatched her clean of the ground and threw her over his shoulder.
Thrown against a wall in a dark alleyway, she was trembling in fear of being raped or similar. Yuri watched her still shrouded in shadows. He never should have, he only found her beautiful. She was a stunning fox, though looking pretty ordinary for a fox at first sight, her movement was filled to the brim with grace, everything she did reeked of elegance and her apparent innocence was heart-breaking.
She covered her head in fear and squealed out as she fell to her knees:
"Please, don't harm me! My dad's very rich and powerful so he'll have revenge."
He felt sorry for her as she stood there, trusting in the very man who had hired him to kill her. Obliged to continue, he opened his mouth to speak but it took a while for his words to come out as he tried to gather himself.
"The information, Alicia, where is it?"
Her body was trembling so powerfully he could hear her knees knocking together.
"Wha... what? What information?"
Yuri stepped forward and grabbed her by the collar, pulling her up in standing position and then some, lifting her so her feet dangled and kicked.
"The information, where IS it!?"
She cried, tears fell from her cheek and she wriggled so hard it was difficult to keep a grip.
She held her tiny paws on his wrist and soon he felt a distinct, sharp smell fill his nostril. Oh god, she had peed herself.
"I... I... don't... in my purse, please, in my purse!"
As he released her he snatched her purse from her shoulder and looked through it quickly, finding a few discs.
"Is this all!?"
She nodded quickly as she squatted down again, curling up a bit and hugging her knees. Yuri's heart was already broken and he knew he'd regret it later.
"I'm sorry for this..."
He pointed the gun right at her, pressing the opening against her temple.
The cry echoed louder in the alley, instead of shivering or trembled, her entire body vibrated powerfully as the tears increased in amount. He growled at himself for it, tightening his grip so hard his knuckles whitened.
"Damn..."
With a swift motion he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, he could feel a wet spot against his chest but it mattered little. He tucked his gun back in under his jacket and sprinted off quickly down the alley, out on the street.
Hank woke up to some loud noise, quickly getting up from his bed in fear of thief. A bit groggy he searched the wall for his bat and soon enough found it, getting up. He opened the door quickly and jumped out, believing they'd be right outside. Instead a stone dropped from his heart as he saw Yuri.
He quickly went up and embraced him, murring softly as he was rewarded with a hug back. But soon he scented something different and he took a step back, easily recognizing the smell.
"Why do you have a fox's urine all over you?"
Yuri chuckled a bit nervously and scratched the back of his head, chewing on his lower lip.
"Eh, hard to explain... go back to bed and I'll explain it all tomorrow morning?"
Hank cocked his head to the side, as if thinking while observing then he shook his head.
"No, Yuri, please, tell now. I was worried when you didn't get home... for god's sake, it's 5 am and you come back stinking of urine?"
Yuri quickly hushed him down and shook his head.
"Please, Hank, I know we've only known each other for so long but... trust me, there's no time."
For some strange reason, he felt compelled to comply in the end. He made his discomfort known with a grunt as he leaned the bat against the wall.
"Fine, but tomorrow you better have a good reason for brining women here."
Yuri cocked his eyebrows in surprise and quickly replied:
"How did you know?"
Hank rolled his nose and tapped his nose before turning around, walking back into his own bedroom.
Yuri walked into the room, looking at the sleeping Alicia and she looked peaceful. He opened the closet and quickly changed clothes, tossing the others in a black bag. He now wore the same clothes as before he departed for the club, he'd have to wash them but for now it had to do. He closed the closet and looked at Alicia, finding her looking back at him calmly.
"Alicia, stay here and don't move unless I or a fella named Hank tells you to, k?"
He didn't know why, if she somehow recognized him or what, but she nodded and turned her head to face the wall again.
Satisfied with it, he headed out and caught a buss to the station again. Within the envelope had been a note what to do with the info when achieved. He didn't plan on giving it to them, something was horribly wrong and he didn't like being used. He thought of Alicia and what they, her own father, wanted him to do. It was sickening when he thought of it and he regretted taking the job.
He found the small safe numbered 260, whereupon he placed the empty, brown envelope. That'd send them a message sure enough, but he wasn't sure of the consequences. He closed the safe and quickly departed the station, taking an alternate route to loose any possible stalkers before coming back to Hank's bar. After he checked back on Alicia, who had undressed and crept down under the covers, he sat himself down in the kitchen, determined to keep guard.
Morning came slowly and Hank was the first to emerge. He looked at Yuri and sighed, Yuri only grinning sheepishly back.
"Time for a good story, isn't it, Yuri?"
Yuri merely nodded and gestured for the chair across the table.
"Have a seat, Hank, it'll take some time."
Hank nodded, feeling a bit uncertain but still complied, his curiosity peeked at this moment. Curious about what the half-breed had been up to all night.
In a higher district, an equine looking strangely familiar approached an older canine in a brown leather-armchair.
"It appears our Hunter went a bit renegade, sir. All we received was an empty envelope."
The older canine looked at what appeared to be Elijah, narrowing his eyes a bit.
"So, he failed to complete the mission? That is most unfortunate... What went wrong?"
Elijah merely shrugged, never opening his mouth to respond. But obviously the old man got all the information he needed from this simple gesture.
"Find him and my daughter... kill him and bring her before me."
Elijah nodded but stood adamant before the old man, speaking very firmly:
"What about any bystanders."
The laughter was dark and sinister, echoing in the big, empty office. The question had never been needed to be asked, when it came to bystanders, the Silveranchors were known for their ruthless ways. Bystanders were collateral damage and were worth nothing. To keep their identities out of the courtroom, the bystanders were silenced swiftly.
Hank widened his eyes at the end of the explanation. Not sure what to be most shocked at; the fact that Yuri was a hired assassin or who he had sleeping in his bed currently.
"Yuri, for the love of god, you'll get us both killed."
Yuri shook his head, sighing a bit and looking down in the table.
"I'll have to leave tomorrow if not sooner... and I'll take her with me. I don't want you to get into any trouble."
Hank shook his head, grabbing Yuri's hand.
"Look, Yuri, I'm not sure who you are or where you came from, but I can't just let ya leave."
Yuri nodded and tore his hand from Hank's grip, standing up quickly.
"That's what you have to do, these guys ain't messing around."
Slamming his paw into the table, he narrowed his eyes at Yuri who for the first time saw Hank as a vicious creature.
"I can't let you leave, dammit, don't you get it!?"
Yuri growled and raised his curled up hand to Hank.
"Do you have a death-wish or something?"
Hank stood up and grabbed Yuri by the shoulder, pushing him back against the wall. He swiftly fished something up from his pocket and held it in front of Yuri's eyes.
"Is this your father!?"
Yuri blinked a few times, pretty dumbfounded at this point.
"Answer me, Yuri. Is Captain Jake Henry Greenwood your father!?"
Yuri swallowed hard as he was literally pushed up against a wall, being asked a question Hank shouldn't know.
"Yes, he's my father but how...?"
Hank released Yuri and growled, throwing him the photo of an old, proud man in a uniform, a fox by the looks of it. There was another man, younger man, maybe even a teenager who stood next to the uniformed man.
"Hank, is this..."
Hank held his paws in front of his face, as if trying to hold back a scream or a cry. A muffled voice came through to Yuri:
"Don't you get it? You didn't come here by accident; something in the back of your head recognized the scent of this place... of me!"
There was a short silence, Hank removing his paws very slowly and Yuri just staring at the picture and then at Hank, back at the picture.
"No, not of me... of our father, Yuri. Captain Jake Henry Greenwood is my father and yours as well... we're half-brothers... which explain why your scent was so familiar to me."
Yuri shook his head a few times then swallowed a huge chunk of nothing, of air.
"But Hank... I... this..."
"Just... shut up, Yuri, just shut up..."
Yuri stood, still leaned against the wall as he slowly let his arm fall straight along his side, the photo slipping from his fingers. It was a lot of information at once, a lot of spooky coincidences.
Suddenly the door to Yuri's door opened and a morning-tired Alicia stepped into the kitchen.
"What's going on?"
That was the first time Yuri really heard or voice instead of shriek cries or soppy sulking. But right now it mattered little. A brother... he still couldn't believe it. Obviously his mother couldn't have told him, Hank was at least two or three years older than him so...
"Hank... I don't know what to say."
"Neither do I, Yuri... let's just have breakfast since Alicia here is awake... then you go to bed, got it, Yuri... you've been up all night watching over us both."
Yuri swallowed again but he was pretty dry so it was just air. Alicia looked at Yuri and smiled, speaking in that soft, gentle voice:
"You watched over me? I suppose I owe you a thank."
Yuri received a light kiss on the cheek as reward then she sat down on of the empty chairs.
They all three ate breakfast together, Alicia trying to kick up a conversation which was brutally killed by either a grunt from Hank or a silent assassination from Yuri. It was obvious that neither were eager to talk right now.
"Guys... something wrong? Is it because of me?"
Hank slowly turned his head to look at her, forced a smile then shook his head. He then returned to the food.
Yuri left the table under heavy silence, the kind of silence that risk breaking every bone in your body. After a while, Hank and Alicia started to talk normally, unaware of the immediate danger approaching their simple lives. Yuri fell asleep and afterwards thanked the gods he never dreamt during that night.