As they would make their way up the staircase, the floor above would eventually span out into a series of hallways along the left. Max wondered what could have lied within those winding hallways, but their destination appeared to be in the opposite direction, down a singular corridor to the right.
Lined along one side, were a series of evenly spaced out doors, and on the other, windows lined the walls, sunlight illuminating the corridor brightly.
Their destination, however, was a single door at the very end of the corridor.
Stepping through, it was closed behind them with a soft sound.
“Now then…” The ashen haired man began, turning around and promptly seizing either side of Max’s face between his fingers, making him look up at the man. “Interesting! I’d heard about you from the details Eon filled me in with, but...Honestly! You really do look like a little animal, don’t you?”
Max struggled to frown past the pinching fingers, resisting the urge to bite at the man’s hand in irritation.
Was having no sense of personal boundaries just a Raoulian thing, or what??
“I must say, it’s certainly surprising that Eon, of all people would be the one so keen on taking you in. Hopefully he’s not giving you a hard time?” The man chuckled, seemingly amused as he finally released poor Max’s face.
“The hell is that supposed to mean?” Eon frowned, clearly displeased with that statement.
“Who knows??” The man hummed cheerfully.
Max couldn’t really get a solid feeling for the man, but somehow, he wasn’t under the impression that he was bad. He could just tell with this sort of thing, so he lowered his guard, rubbing at his sore cheeks.
“Not really.” He admitted with a slight sway of his tail.
“Oh really?” The man chuckled, confounded as he pressed a knuckle against his chin, contemplating something pensively. “Still...I have to wonder what I’m to do about this one.”
“About that...I had a suggestion, actually.” Eon chimed in, clearing his throat as he leveled his gaze with the man’s, two-toned eyes firmly meeting hazel ones. “...Why not have him work for the Society?”
“Oh?” The man’s eyes flashed with both surprise and interest at this suggestion, especially coming from Eon himself.
“I can safely vouch for his combative abilities, even though I’ve yet to really see them. He just gives off that feel, and I don’t mind keeping watch over him for the time being.”
The man looked increasingly enthused, his interest piqued as his gaze dropped back down to Max.
Coming from Eon, he had no choice but to believe his words, but it was far more extraordinary that Eon was even making such a suggestion to begin with.
There must have been far more to this fox than met the eye.
“...Very well, then.” He finally answered, looking satisfied. “I’ll see to explaining this to the higher ups. For the time being, he’ll remain in your care, then." From Eon, his gaze returned to Max. "You. What’s your name?”
“...Max.” Max answered after a brief moment of hesitation, taken by surprise at Eon’s praise of him. He barely knew the man, but somehow, it felt as though Eon saw more about Max than he let off.
“Well then, Max, you may call me Azuma. Do tell me if you ever need something, yes?” The man, Azuma hummed, giving Max a charming smile. “That being the case, you may take your leave. I’ll take care of the rest from here.”
“Alright.” Eon nodded, content with the way things turned out before turning on his heel and waving Azuma off with a flick of his tail.
Max hurriedly followed along after Eon, but he couldn’t help but cast Azuma a lingering glance before the two took their leave.
“...Sorry for volunteering you like that without your permission.” Eon spoke up, casting Max an apologetic look as things fell silent between them.
“Ah...No, it’s alright.” Max shook his head, truly not minding the way events had unfolded. It wasn’t as though he had a better arrangement in mind, after all, even if he had been caught by surprise.
When he thought about it, his initial impression of Eon ended up being completely different from how the man really was.
From the beginning, for reasons unknown to Max, Eon had been taking care of him...And for that, he was entirely grateful.
“We’re here.” The sudden announcement of their arrival snapped Max out of his thoughts.
...But where had they arrived at, exactly?
Max found himself wondering such things as he realized they hadn’t actually walked that far at all, only a short ways down the corridor before stopping at one of the many doors lining the walls. He was clearly puzzled, but by now, it had become a natural reflex to trail along after Eon...And so, he followed along after him as the two entered the room, a faint, chemical smell hitting the roof of Max’s mouth...But he didn’t exactly have the leisure to comprehend why, as he was suddenly met face to face with a pair of glasses.
“Well, hello there again, little Vixen!!”
Max had a near heart attack, recognizing the face mere inches away from his own as belonging to that of the eccentric doctor from before.
Truthfully, Max felt like he just might have lost an entire layer of fur in that one moment alone.
“V-Vix-?!” His back hit the far most wall faster than a speeding bullet, practically clinging to it as though his very life depended on the existence of that wall.
“Oh my, why so startled?” Sage looked clearly saddened by Max’s reaction, placing a hand on his hip as he tilted his head to the side. “Don’t you worry, I don’t bite~” He hummed in a sing-song tune, pushing up his glasses, honey colored eyes peering out from behind them.
“I think anyone would be shocked to death with you coming onto them like that so suddenly.” Eon frowned, feeling a small prickle of guilt at not warning Max beforehand. He felt as though if he had, he probably wouldn’t have been able to get Max in here, so he simply had no choice.
“I can’t help it! He’s such a little darling, after all!” Sage huffed, looking offended before turning his gaze to Max yet again, an innocent smile playing about his lips. “I do hope you’ll give me the chance to study you a bit sometime.”
“...He may act this way, but he’s really not a bad guy.” Eon hastily explained, seeing the rising concern on Max’s face. Truthfully, he looked ready to escape the room as quickly as he could, given the chance.
“If...If you say so.” Max frowned, settling down just enough to allow his fur to fall flat...However, he still stared the man down, as though looking at his mortal enemy.
“Shall we begin then?” Smiling, Sage patted the empty exam table beside him.
“...Begin what?” Max quirked an eyebrow, looking suspicious.
“The substance used in those bullets I explained to you about. There’s a good chance you’ll be working with them from time to time. Since it’s so dangerous, it’s best to make sure your body gets accustomed to the chemical.” Eon explained in Sage’s place.
“...Ah.” There was a bit of a pause before Max answered, recalling how nonchalantly Eon had handled those bullets from before. He now understood why he didn’t really seem worried at the time, despite handling something so dangerous.
By now, Max felt as though he had already begun forming an idea of just what exactly this organization was...And all the more, it made him wonder why Eon was working for such a place.
Then again, Max wasn’t really the type to judge. He was sure Eon had his own reasons, after all.
So, with that, Max finally took a seat on the edge of the exam table, albeit somewhat nervously. He wasn’t very fond of anything pertaining to doctors or hospitals.
“It may be rather painful at first, so just bear with it, if you can.” Sage warned him, his previous, sing-song tune all but vanished into seriousness before turning around.
Moments later, he would return to the table with a hypodermic needle, a strange, silver liquid contained within the syringe.
A feeling of restlessness began to pass throughout the pit of Max’s stomach, but he bit down on it.
His arm was gently grabbed before being turned around, the needle descending towards the underside of his elbow junction.
And with that, the silver, metallic liquid disappeared into his arm.
A strangely cool and uncomfortable feeling rushed throughout his veins...But beyond that, there was nothing else, even as the moments continued to tick by.
Recalling the awful, festering wounds of that Demon from before, it was strangely anticlimactic.
“...I don’t feel anything??” He finally spoke up as the lack of symptoms persisted.
“...Fascinating…” Sage looked appalled at the absence in reaction from Max. “It doesn’t appear that the solution has any affect on you...Is it because you’re Farronian?? Perhaps a different constitution...Or maybe-Ah, no...Perhaps...” Gradually, his words became incomprehensible, degrading into nothing more than strange mutters to himself. He seemed completely lost within his own thoughts.
Max cleared his throat, starting to feel awkward, the tip of his tail trembling slightly.
“Hmm?” Sage blinked, snapping out of his trance as a little ‘ah’ escaped him. “My apologies. You’ll have to excuse me. I tend to ramble on at times.”
It was unsettling really. Watching this man jump between that cheery attitude of his, to a deadpan personality of seriousness. Max could never understand people like this.
“Well, this being the case, it would appear we have nothing to worry about.” He smiled, returning to his previous, bouncy demeanor from before. “I’ll report this to the Chief. Are there any health problems on your end, Eon dearie?”
“Fit as a fiddle.” Eon replied on the dime, before the man could throw in any of those signature, ridiculous comments of his. “Let’s head off then, since there’s nothing to worry about.” He added in, casting Max a little look before jerking his chin towards the door. “If you stay here for too long, he might strip you down to your birthday suit and examine you all over. Then, if he’s still not satisfied, he just might dismantle you and store your pieces in jars throughout his study.”
“I would never!” Sage huffed, exasperated with Eon’s comments.
Regardless of whether or not Eon’s statements held any truth or merit, Max still shot upright and hurriedly made his way to the door, ears laid back and tail curling along the tip.
Eon let out a stifled, amused chuckle, waving the Doc off before the duo took their leave.
From there, their travels would once again take them back out into the city, though their destination was away from the noisy clamor of the market district.
No, their destination lied in the quieter, residential district, being far more spanned out, and less cluttered than the market.
The homes were constructed out of that same, consistently gray material, though they gave off a far more homely feel.
The cobblestone roads wound through the area, only broken apart by the patches of lawns, trees, and buildings.
Eventually, they would stop at one of the homes, looking no different than the rest, yet it stood alone, some distance away from the others.
This seemed to be rather intentional, however.
The building was modest, consisting of two stories, though it was apparent that the first floor was not a living space. No, the actual living space was suspended above the first story, stairs on the left side of the building leading up to the entry point.
Once inside, the interior was shockingly empty. Other than bare necessities, there wasn’t much of the feel of a person ‘living’ within this home.
From the door, the immediate room was a decent, medium sized living room. To the left, an island like kitchen, separated by a partial wall, a single, large window like opening allowing one to peer out into the living space from the kitchen.
On the far back of the right wall, there was a single door leading to the washroom, and a hallway leading to the bedroom just beyond that.
It was a simple, minimalist home. Empty, yet somehow still cozy.
Eon rubbed at the back of his neck as he watched Max glance about the living space.
Normally, he didn’t really care about the way his living space looked, but it was strangely embarrassing letting someone else see it. Surely Max would have thought the home was lacking, disappointing, even.
Even stranger than that, was his concern of how someone else viewed his life style to begin with. He never would have expected someone else would end up in his care like this.
He would just have to make sure he got some basic furnishings later.
“I only have one bed for the moment, so you can take it tonight.” He spoke up, breaking the silence between them.
“No, I can’t-” Max began in protest, but he was swiftly silenced by Eon.
“Just stop being stubborn and listen. I don’t plan on letting you argue with me about this one. It’s just one night for now.” He frowned, crossing his arms.
Max locked gazes with him for a moment before surprisingly backing down, a small sigh escaping his lips.
He just didn’t have the energy to argue with him about this right now.
“...Fine.” He answered flatly.
He was tired. So much had happened in such a short time, that he was having a hard time processing it all.
Come to think of it, Max had hardly enough time to settle on recent events at all...Or rather, the reality was that he had been actively avoiding thinking about such things entirely.
However, now that he had the time to breathe, thoughts he had previously pushed aside slowly began returning to him.
Memories he was desperately trying to push aside...The fact that he ended up so far away from home, and the fact that he was somehow pulled along at such a rapid pace, that he had no choice but to just go with the flow.
He just needed some time to rest.
That was all.
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