24.1. Not Coming Back - Part 1

"Since when do we have kittens?" Liana asks calmly but I can feel she's furious inside. And not because of the fluffy litter. We're sitting in her office where she summoned us just a few minutes after Emi proudly showed me her discovery in the cafeteria.

I wanted to complain about her confiscating all my casual clothes as soon as I saw her but now is definitely not the right time. Liana is royally pissed and there's no messing with my Viceroy when she's like that.

"Since today morning," Emi answers plainly and is piercing Liana with her bright brown vulpine eyes while petting the little kittens on her lap. She's challenging Liana to berate her. Emi might be several years younger but they're both adults so she thinks my Viceroy has no right to act all high and mighty towards her.

"I'm not angry because of your new pets, Emi," Liana's voice is ice. "I'm angry because you breached my security."

Oh, so that's what it's all about. I didn't realise that Emi's morning jog means she went outside.

"So am I your prisoner now?" Emi hisses through her teeth. "Li, I'm really grateful that you saved me. You have no idea how much. But I'm a free person and won't be..."

"You could have been apprehended!" Liana bursts out and hits the table. "You, among all people, should know that the government doesn't see us as humans with human rights until we claim them back. Moreover, you're a race ruler, Emi, and thus have responsibility towards your people."

"I... I know that," Emi retorts but not as strongly as she originally intended. Liana hit her weak spot. If anything, Emi seems to take her being the Clawfang leader even in the real world seriously. "But I took my pack so I was safe."

"Yeah, you took your pack," Liana snorts and passes us her tablet. "And you made quite an impression."

Erik and I glance at the screen that shows a video of Emi and other Clawfangs running wildly in a nearby park. And also... ehm... damaging some fences in their way.

"Okay, I admit that doesn't look good," Emi scratches one of the kittens. "But we needed to let off some steam, Li. My race just can't sit in one place, we'd go crazy. We're born to run just as your race is born to fly. Only in your case the difference is that you still can't do it. I bet if Aefener could fly right now, no power in the world would stop him."

Liana sighs. Emi definitely wasn't right when breaching the tight security Liana established for our safety but there's no denying the Clawfang nature. Or ours for the matter.

"Then we have to agree on some things for the future and find a compromise," Liana leans into the chair and whines because she forgot about her wings for a second. "Damn, I need to order new seats."

"Sorry, but can we go now?" Erik asks impatiently. "Ryuuto still didn't have his breakfast."

"Oh, right... of course," Liana dismisses the two of us. "I summoned you only because I was afraid Emi wouldn't come without you. Return immediately after you've eaten, okay? There's a lot of work to be done. Oh, I noticed that I have a missed call from you, Aefener. What did you need?"

"I...," I look at her while analysing her current mental state.

She doesn't seem open to any arguments about trivialities. Besides, she's wearing her own Celestial robe with the attitude like it's the most common type of clothing for us from now on. And Emi does hers too.

"Never mind," I sigh resignedly.

"Okay, eat a lot, would you?" she nods, content that I swallowed my complaints.

We quickly leave the office. It's obvious Emi is in for more scolding about her behaviour and we don't have to witness that.

"Are we sure she really wants you to become the Emperor?" Erik shakes his head when we reach the stairs. Liana's office is just two floors above the cafeteria so we can walk. I'm glad that I can use the stairs instead of the elevator and avoid another episode of claustrophobic attack.

"It was similar ingame so I'm used to it," I shrug. "And it's also part of our lore, actually. I don't want to comply to some fictional cultural thing but it was spot on in our case."

"How so?" he doesn't understand. "The Emperor is supposed to be the absolute monarch, right? I read some extracts of Celestial lore in the book Ingri lent me. No time to read it properly, though."

"Yes, but not exactly," I bite my lip. "In case of Celestials, the Emperor is always the best magic caster and flier and that's without a debate. However, it's the appointed Viceroy who deals with the everyday agenda and runs the empire on a practical level. The Emperor is considered to be... ehm... it's embarrassing to say."

"Go on," Erik nudges me, curious now.

"The Emperor is considered to be the godly incarnate of magic itself," I say and turn red. "According to the stupid made-up lore," I add quickly. "However, as such... well, the Emperor basically deals with magical stuff and decides only the most important matters while the Viceroy takes care of the mundane rest."

Erik burst laughing.

"So that's why you're such a good duo with her," he pokes me, amused. "She did all the paperwork and politics while you could happily fly around and conquer dungeons. That's so like you, my cute airhead. And like her. You're a remarkable match, you two."

"We seem to continue in it even here," I admit reluctantly.

Erik keeps chuckling the whole way back. When we return to the cafeteria, we find out that the place has finally quieted down. Most of the people are gone and only those eating their breakfast stayed. I'm pleasantly surprised that I see two Celestials and one Dragonkin helping the staff.

"What would you like, Your Majesty?" a Celestial man beams at me from behind the counter. He has brown wings with a yellow pattern and is probably the same age as me. It's the first time I'm seeing him which means he must have come with a recent batch of newcomers.

"Did you do this kind of job before?" I ask because he seems natural at it.

At this point I pretty much gave up on telling Draconians, especially Celestials, that they can address me casually. They just won't do it for some reason. It's either a strong role-play habit from when Draconia was still a game or something in our changing mentality. Possibly both. I asked some of them about it before and the answer was that when they look at me, they simply see their Emperor and can't help it. The same with Liana.

"Yes, I was a part-timer in a campus café," he nods. "I'm glad they took it into consideration when assigning jobs here."

"So they are registering Draconians downstairs?" I ask because I have no idea what arrangements Liana made. I was out for most of the day yesterday because of my fainting.

"At the reception in the entrance hall. I was given quite a questionnaire, our Viceroy is very thorough," he says but he doesn't mind. Actually, I feel from him that he's glad about that. Another Celestial quirk kicking in? We're known to be meticulous.

"Ryuu, pick something," Erik nudges me to remind me why we're here but the main reason he's rushing me is because the Celestial is staring at me a little bit too much.

"I'd like a cheese sandwich, a latte and a chocolate cookie," I order. Julia wouldn't be happy if I went for an entirely sweet breakfast but I still crave sugary things.

"A chicken sandwich for me and an espresso," Erik seconds. He was never keen on sweets. One bite of whatever I order and he's content.

We take our trays and look for a place to sit. Erik wants to sit at the back but I pull his sleeve and point towards an empty table by the windows.

"Celestial preferences," he shrugs and follows me there.

I put my tray on the table and can't resist to admire what I see for a few moments. We're on the 46th floor so the view of Prague is magnificent. I can see all the way to the famous botanical gardens at Troja. My wings tremble with anticipation. Emi was right; if I could fly right now, I would and no security protocol would stop me. But I can't so I sit down and unpack my sandwich.

"The guy was staring at you too obviously," Erik grunts silently.

"Not everyone is gay, Erik," I roll my eyes. "He's staring only because he knows me from the media. He's probably my fan on Vortex. Almost all Celestials are."

"Can you feel when someone is queer?" he's suddenly bursting with curiosity and bites into his sandwich. Nobody is sitting too close to us and we're whispering so we don't have to be afraid of being overheard.

"Quite easily," I admit. "I mean... not with everyone and at every occasion but it's easy for me to feel if there's sexual attraction. And there was none in this case so chill."

"Sorry," he sighs and sips his coffee. "I know that I can be... a bit possessive. Do you hate it?"

I finally bite into my sandwich which gives me time to think.

"No, I don't hate anything about you," I confess. "My telepathy," I lower my voice even more, "might be influencing you, though, and you don't have to be aware of it."

"Do you feel like I've changed?" he worries. "Because I don't feel any different. I always wanted to keep you close. Only before you were too evasive."

"I... I'm not sure," I say truthfully. "Considering what has happened... it should be me changing mentally, right?"

"So many questions and no answers," he looks out of the window, pondering. "The world looks normal from up here. Yet, here we are. And you are stirring your latte with telekinesis and spilling it, love."

"Oh, damn," I realise only now that the spoon is moving by itself and I'm making quite a mess.

"It's really effortless for you, isn't it?" he's thinking frantically but since we're not touching, I don't know what he's thinking about.

And for once, I feel he's actually glad I don't know because I feel an almost unrecognisable hint of... jealousy? Longing? But I might be wrong. It's too subtle to tell when the person isn't even aware of it yet. Anyway, nothing so far has indicated that Erik is uncomfortable when I do magic around him.