The Art of Cake

[Foxglove]

"Good." Indeed good, he thought and stood up. "Maren, we're back in a bit. Don't fall asleep, right? Pyjama party, after all." Not wanting to show any signs of him rubbing it in, he headed for the door, opening it with an expecting look to Elena. "Don't forget your PDA," he reminded her, not wanting it to be left here alone with Maren.

As he said that, she just decided to take the whole bag with her, along with the gun. Flicking it over her shoulder after she had stuffed the PDA back into it, she walked over to the door where he was already waiting for her. Unlucky as she was, she had no jacket with her as it seemed, but she doubted she would have a problem with it. Glancing at Maren, she would give her a sweet smile and a wave. "You could check the Neural Net for some more movies, maybe. I won't manage another horror flicker." Looking at Ezrael, still having that smile on her lips that almost seemed excited, she would say: "Alright, let's go."

And like that they left. A few steps closer to the water and then along the coast line. It was still pretty warm, as it was the typical tropical climate of the curacaoan islands. The blue sun of Cortez was doing a good job. In the sky they would see the star clusters around the barrier nebulae, which were visible as well. There darkest nights were still the ones in Liberty and on Malta and Soledad. "I once read the old earth wasn't surrounded by big nebulae like the ones in Sirius. Weird to imagine," he said, wanting to begin with small talk until they would reach the two hundred meters.

Almost instantly after they had closed the door behind them, Elena's former sweet smile would vanish from one second to the other, as though it had never been a real one. Now with almost no expression, trying to keep a neutral countenance apparently, she would walk beside him, one hand clutching the strap of her back, the other stuck in a trouser pocket. She wouldn't look up to the sky, and even when he pointed it out, she just granted her a brief glance. "To be honest, most that is told about Earth I regard somewhat skeptically. Most things we know about it have without a doubt been sophisticated over the centuries", she gave back, while eyeballing him doubtfully. Was he really attempting smalltalk now? "Interesting topic", she added. Subtext: Aren't there more important topics than that?

"It's never dark on Gran Canaria. Maren wanted us to settle down there, because she likes the temperate climate more than the tropical. I mean, the first times she was on Curacao, she was a bunch of sweat covered by skin. But then again, Gran Canaria has insects. Big ones. Like, moths of the length of your arm. Curacao has almost no insects, because they aren't native here," he explained as they walked in the white sand. "But yes, Gran Canaria is always bright. Annoyingly bright. Two suns and the Barrier reflects the light. It's horrible. In some cities, they have domes to simulate the night, just like they do it on Freeport 10. Just in bigger scale."

Elena carefully watched every step she made, even though it wasn't too dark outside. Most of the time she kept her head low, and as soon as they had reached the beach, have a closer look at the consistency of the sand underneath them. It was pretty big guff what he was telling her, she found, and it just vexed her. Was he taking her for a fool? "Mhmmm, that is interesting. I was only once there, was pretty cold", she gave back as reply. She was noticeably hacked off, though she tried to carry it off well. Her voice of tone however was giving the show away. "Now that's all very well, but I think there's juicy stuff to talk about." Zipping the bag open, she'd take out the PDA.

"You're like a friend of mine, you know?" he told her, smiling at her for a moment before looking forward again. "Her name is Paige, and she currently runs a company here on Curacao and on Canaria. Maybe you heard of it, it's called HOT GEAR and currently pretty successive in the motorsport business," he explained in a slow way of talking. After all he had to buy some time. 100 meters, maybe a bit more left. "She is just as young as you are. Solid girl, stands on her own feet. Whenever we talk, she just can't wait to get things down to the point instead of having just a little small talk. One day I told her what my mother used to tell me when she was still alive. Good news can wait, and bad news won't run away anyway."

Slowly, but surely she came to the realization he was really doing it on purpose, for whatever reason. However she had already played such a game with him once today, so why just not a second time as well. Swallowing her anger with a loud gulp, she would take a few deep breaths, soaking the so-called healthy air of Curacao in, cleaning her mind from any frantic thoughts. "You once said I would kinda remind you of the people you value the most. And told me in the same breath you wouldn't tell me anything about them, though", she said, getting off the track herself as well. "Well, now I know some of them I guess, don't I? Really makes me wonder what you meant with that back then."

"Back then I tried to be professional. Alter Ego, zero information output, only input," he told her, looking at the sand to their feet while walking. "Maren is making fun of it all the time, but she never tried to understand why I did it. It's really funny. She is so over the top proud of her intellect, she doesn't realize when she acts stupidly," he said, knowing Valery would know he said it. It made him grin, as he also meant it. "But then I fell into old patterns. Women were always my weakness and strength, and your persistance made me loosen the cover. Now you know who I am, you know my girlfriend and you know my home. You even know my best friend, so there is nothing left to keep secret. You know me now."

"You weren't really effective to keep your mouth shut, let's say it that way", she replied, folding her hands behind her back and looking up to him briefly. She had heard Maren making fun about his LARP costume, but didn't want to comment further on it. "Women are usually more of a weakness than a strength, if you want to hear a woman's opinion on that matter." She seemed pretty serious about it. At the same time, his last words made her grin weirdly for a second, although it was merely artificial. "I'm no philosopher, but the term 'knowing' is too broad", she shot back, not believing one word of his. After all, she knew about at least one matter that apparently was more nebulous than she had thought. "So, what kind of 'knowing' do you mean?"

"The kind of knowing that makes you know my social environment, my home and my hobbies," he gave her back, smiling. "If you and Fenn wouldn't have flirted with me, things were different now."

"Right, I thought so", she said, turning silent for a moment. That was a kind of knowing that allowed enough secrets though, she thought. Which was find, everybody was allowed to have secrets. Still, the curiosity. "For better or worse, what do you think?", she asked, smiling at him. Fake, but for change it wasn't noticeable.

"Good for you, I guess," he replied quietly. "As otherwise who knows what Hussaini would have done with you in the meantime. Bad for me, because things are complicated now, thanks to my intervention. As you know. I need to be extremely careful now, and I can only hope either Unschuld doesn't know already you're here or doesn't mind it, as it wasn't me but Maren who invited you here. However, even here at the beach, where only you and me right now are, is no assurance that we're not spied on. So I'd be extremely careful about what you want to talk about."

"Without a proper bodyguard I probably wouldn't have gone there in the first place", she said, crossing her arms before her chest. A benefit of her constant caution, besides the painful stress level as a downside, was that she could listen quite closely. "How should Unschuld get wind of all that anyways?", she asked. It was an honest question. "Except of course your fiance is some sort of snitch and tells Unschuld as quickly as possible. Which I can't believe though, since she loves you." Through that she got reminded of the happenings on the beach, when Maren had given her a brief, but terrible fright. The more she thought about it, the more the whole idea of Maren and Unschuld exchanging views during afternoon tea party became weirder.

"Maren does love me," he assured her, although he himself was often not sure about it anymore. Two times he spared her life in moments when she expected him to kill her, and her reaction to his chivalry was always convincing enough to make him believe it was the case. But now with the entire thing of Elena and Hussaini and Ezrael's intervention, Maren behaved noticeable differently towards him. Way more intransparent. But probably it was the case the other way around, too. "There was a time when I didn't know anymore about Maren. The Auxesians started claiming her to be an infectee because of her weird behavior, and thus they started to think I might be a nomad supporter, if not an infectee as well. After all I have a battleship, very good connections and I am a billionaire. Would make me an attractive target. It went on for a while, a few months until I had enough, because Auxesia was so convinced about it that even I had my doubts about Maren. So I took her and we moved to the Auxesian Flagship, the Eidolon Wraith. Met Sapphire Raven in person, as well as Joshua Hunt, or Leviathan or Endurance or however you want to call him. They screened us, and Auxesia has the technology for that. They found nothing. Both Maren and me are clean." And that only because Valery temporarily wasn't part of Maren in that specific time. "A certain agent however seems to be well informed about me, though, no matter what I do. No matter what Maren does. Unschuld has his means to aquire information, and if he doesn't get those information himself, one of his inferiors does. Either that, or Unschuld has something else to get informed without being present himself. Whatever it is, it means he can't be fooled easily. And I am quite sure he is aware of you being here on Curacao."

Maren and infected. Huh. That was a possibility Elena hadn't so far thought about, or rather hadn't wanted to. There was no denial that her behaviour on the beach, especially the question about the eyes, had faintly been reminiscent of Hussaini's nebulous behavior. But if it was true, and Maren was an infectee, why shouldn't he be too? In that case she would be big in the shits. This whole thinking process only became visible as she instinctly took a discrete step away from him. "Why are you so dependent on that pesky little creature?", she gave back, feeling her thumping heartbeat against her chest. The topic was riding her. "No jokes, I can't imagine one single way how you've become a pawn on somebody else's, an infectee's chessboard. What the hell have you even done to become such an inferior of Unschuld yourself?" She was nervous, that was easily noticeable, because the more she thought about it, the more nebulous it all seemed to her. But the fact that she realized he, as a pawn, wouldn't have to say the truth either, made her wary how much trust was actually approriate right now.

"I am not a his inferior," he clarified. "We have an agreement, a non-aggression pact. I don't fight the nomads anymore, and in return, me and my friends are safe from them." It was a little bit insulting how she made a step to the side. He was the last person she needed to be afraid of, and the only thing he tried was to save her in a way that wouldn't result in his death or infection. "There is no point in fighting the nomads, Elena. Destroy one of them in space and they just regrow the shell. Kill an infectee and they just create a new incubus. And then again, they didn't start this war. Knowing those things, I don't see as to why waste ressources on something that doesn't make any difference. This treaty however does, as it at least protects a small amount of people, and all I have to give in return is, well, the same. Not attacking them, not interfering with them. I am not their pawn, if you think that." He had no idea whether it were 200 meters now or not. "I violated the treaty unknowingly when I protected you from Hussaini, and because of that, Unschuld is shadowing me to make sure something like that doesn't happen again. That is why I am pretty sure he knows about you being here and me being here. If the Commune can hide riflemen in the trees, they can do it a thousand times better." The entire topic made him look at the ground. He wasn't Unschuld's inferior, yet his hands were tied. "If I violate the treaty further, I won't be the only one to suffer the consequences. The moment my friends lose their protection, they will die, because some of them know just as much as I do about the nomads and infectee. Maren would die, Leon would die, my crew would die. I would. Or we'd be turned into infectees as well. I don't want to find out. I don't play with the lifes of other people."

Elena shook her head. There was so much weird stuff in his words that she didn't know where to begin. But maybe she would have to accept that this was a weird topic by nature. "You're breaking this treaty, this non-aggression pact right now, at this point. You said you wouldn't play with lives of others, still right now you are gambling. Whether Unschuld cares about this or not, you can't know for sure. So why didn't you just send me away earlier and instead stiffly played as though everything was more or less fine? Because both you and I know it wasn't. It would have been most logical for us to part as quickly as possible again", she meant. "Maren as well said you behaved that way because you fear the consequences. You would have reacted otherwise if you really did." She took a sharp breath. There were so many countless possibilities on what was going on here, that she didn't know where to put all of her cogitations right now. "I find it interesting, why did you tell me this story about Auxesia? Do you actually think that I think that...?" The rest of the sentence she left unsaid, believing he knew what she was alluding to. There was enough for Elena to actually believe in that, though. Maren saying she had superpowers in a serious demeanour, her vulpine smile when she asked about Hussaini's eyes, Ezrael's absolutely weird reaction when he had joined them. Still, this was absurd.

"Yes, I think that. It is the very first reaction of people who learned about us having to deal with them. When Leon got aware of all this, he believed it. Same with other people. Wait, you deal with nomads? You must be infected! It is always the same. Simply because the common people don't know anything about nomads but rumors and what they show in the news. I don't want to have the same threadmill start over again. Do you know what people do to you once anyone said you could be infected? The Lane Hackers are hunting me actively, Auxesia was spreading this bullshit all over Bretonia and Bretonia refused to talk to me until the point where I had Auxesia admitting their mistake. I'm tired of this." She would hear him sighing audibly. He was sure they hadn't passed the 200 meters. Stopping, he turned towards her. "I would honestly prefer if you would leave, but I won't send you away. That would be an interference. I have no idea why you're here, at my house with my girlfriend, but right now you're here because she allowed it. I had no saying in this. The decision has to come from either her or from you. Maren didn't get threatened directly by Unschuld, and she doesn't interfere willingly with their cause. However I am the person who got and who did. Unschuld's words were clear. If I see you again, my people will suffer for it." It was obvious his latter sentences came with a connotion of regret and resignment. After all, he liked her. "There are two ways we can deal with this. You can go back to Maren and talk with her about all this or pretend this talk didn't happen and try to have a fun pyjama party with her. In that case I won't return with you but go somewhere else for the time being. Or you leave us. That is your decision. Matter of fact is the less time you and I spent together, the better it is for me. Maybe even for you. I tried my best to protect you, but my hands are tied by now. All I can do now is protect me and my friends." The last sentence was more firm and his expression towards her was serious. The less she liked him, the easier it would be for them to avoid each other in future. It hurt him, but he couldn't allow himself to show any sign of this being a fassade.

"Wait what?!", she almost exclaimed as the anger that had been bottled up inside her suddenly erupted through a breach. "What the fuck did you just say? An -interference-? Sending me away would be an -interference-?! An interference?!" Taking gulps of air, she would aghastly stare at him, taking another step back to bring distance between the two of them. It was a reaction by instinct. She didn't plan to run away, but right now she almost felt threatened. "An interference in whose plans? -Theirs-?" She took another sharp breath. "I swear, don't you dare to tell me any kind of bullshit! That would only be an interference in what Maren has planned. Except of course..." At the very thought of it, she instantly became somewhat dizzy, and as she made another step back, she almost stumbled. "Unschuld told me it would keep an eye out on me in the future. Am I here for that reason?! It wants me to be here, doesn't it!" While he was keeping his fassade quite well, hers was derailing more and more. "What the hell are you people trying to do with me?"

Her emotion-rich reaction was a pain to bear for him. Not in an annoying way, but in a very helpless way. "Did you know I am Maren's boyfriend when you came here?"

"Of course I did, I'm nobody's fool", she gave back, taking a close look at his body language and mien. "She had told me you weren't around though, so I didn't think much of it." Her heart was thumping hard against her heart, and she gulped heavily. "I got lured in a bloody trap!", she shouted at him. "As though I didn't have enough crap already, now this whole Unschuld shit makes a reappearance!"

"It's not a trap. That I am here is pure coincidence. Unlucky coincidence," he clarified. "You however made another unlucky decision. I have no idea why Maren invited you over, she probably still underestimates the danger that Unschuld presents. After all she calls me paranoid, making fun of my security measures. But that doesn't matter now. Maren and me are not the people you need to worry about. What you should worry about are your future decisions. You shouldn't hang out with people who you know they have something with the nomads going on, while you also know the nomads are after you. Or the Commune, in your case. I have no idea what you thought when you came here, it but it was not smart. Sad truth." His eyes were mostly on her feet and the sand.

She tried to calm herself down, which only was possible to a certain degree though. "You didn't answer my question", Elena said, inhaling deeply and slowly to lower her pulse. Her temperament would have almost made her punch his face at that very moment. Though she didn't, he would see her clenched fists. "Look me into the eyes, and tell me in what you would have interfered by sending me away earlier. I want to hear it."

"I think you didn't get me rightly. With interference, I mean that I am not allowed to alter anything about your status. That includes where and when. If I'd send you away, it would be me who sent you away. Thus I can't." He sighed inwardly. "Make your decision. Now. Or do you want to drag me even deeper into this?"

She hesitated, hating this situation guts just as much. "I just wanted to have my answers", she said, still with a hint of anger, but also fear in her voice. Her next words would be quite bold, considering she gambled that one of her former guesses was correct. "I could leave now, but I'm sure you would be interested if I told you I can help you find Nancy." This guess being Nancy and Lily were actually the same person.

His resigning expression changed to a more serious one. "Lily, not Nancy," he corrected her. "What about her? Where is she?"

"Right, Lily. Apologies", she said, taking the PDA out of her bag again. "One of my Knights, the one who happened to be the last one to see her apparently, just now asked me for your contact details. He had told me Lily was on ground flights, which isn't true as we both now." Her face was expressionless as she told him. "Want to hear my opinion? Lily is deep in the shits. But I could give you his comm details, if you are interested."

"You can give him mine. The right ones," he said quietly. "What kind of deep shits, by the way? She's an OSC pilot, there isn't much one could do to get into deep shits."

"I don't have your right ones myself, remember", she just said, equally quietly. "Considering she apparently didn't tell you anything personally, but now one of my people who happens to know her concretely asks for your contact details, tells me that something weird is going on."

"I had many women," he reminded her. "It's not weird at all. I helped her getting her job at OSC, that's all. OSC contacted me about her disappearance, then I contacted you. Then I got a hint about her being dead," he told her. "If she isn't, that would be nice."

"The only way he could know I know you is through her, I'm sure. This could mean many things, though." Maybe Mason was to tell him she was really dead or something. "I'll send them over to him, then."

"Good. Thank you." And like that he remained silent, looking into the distance. It was her time to make a decision.

A loud sigh would be audible. "Well. I surely won't go back to the bungalow, now after all you've told me", she finally said. She still wasn't sure about Maren's real intentions, so it was best to not be around her too much, she thought. "You two can have a nice rest of the evening, I guess."

"I'm sorry, Elena." Giving her a last look, he would have liked to embrace her a last time, but his arms wouldn't manage it. "I really wish things were different."

Stepping closer to him again, she instead would take care of the embrace. Though strong, it was a little one-side, but she didn't care too much. Laying her forehead against his chest, she would sigh again. "Not only you do." It made her think of something, however. "A very long time ago, I once told a man that things won't be different as long as you don't make them different. A wish and an action are enough", she said, not sure why, but the words were spilling out of her mouth.

"If it was that simple," he said quietly, being actually happy she didn't blame him too much. "Now do what you said you would. And be very careful. I'll think of something to tell Maren why you left."

"The man back then said the same. You are less psycho than him, though. I hope. In my opinion, saying 'it's not that easy' is just a bad excuse for giving up." She raised her head from his chest, looking into his eyes. "You are a nebulous man, and I really, -really- hate you for that." Nonetheless, she would raise herself on tip-toes and give him a brief peck on the cheek. No blush was visible.

Sad truth was that there we no options. Any wrong move would result in the death or infection of the ones he cared for. But then his thought was interrupted as he head her lips on his cheek. Only a little peck, but enough to surprise him. For a very brief moment, he smirked. "Make sure John learns to dominate you. Maybe you don't get into trouble all the time then." A final smile, before his expression turned more stern again. "Now go."

Her face became more stern just as much, almost bitter. "Congratulations. You just ruined the goodbye", she said, and she didn't seem to be joking. Had he just not mentioned this name. Taking a few steps back, peering at him with strained expressions as though she had to control herself, she would say: "Good luck." She turned around, however faced him with her head a last time. "And, tell Unschuld I'm not a fucking toy of yours."

And just like that, their meeting ended and Ezrael moved slowly back to the bungalow. Seeing Maren was really the last thing he wanted to bear now.