When it was all said and done it didn’t look too bad. Nox thought as he ran his fingers through his currently styled hair with blue tips. He liked it. The girls had covered all the bruises on his face and the cuts didn’t look too bad as he touched them. Nothing they could do for the swelling. Though they had tried — Cucumber slices and ice. It was nice to feel loved and it really helped pass through a few moments.
Mandy smiled as she gave Nox a last look. ”You have such beautiful eyes. Long Eyelashes I’d die for. And the guyliner just makes them pop so much more. You should always do it.” She said as Nox stared in the mirror examining their handy work. He couldn’t say he didn’t like it. But he hated wearing the foundation but they were right — Nox couldn’t look like he’d been beaten to a pulp.
But as with life — all things end and the girls went their own ways and Nox was left sitting at his laptop. He’d found some great tracks and the lyrics would work, except Nox didn’t want to have lyric distracting from the skit itself, so he had to render them into instrumentals. It had been a while since he’d used the software Aurora had written for him as kid. She said it was easier to dance to when he wasn’t distracted by the words.
She hadn’t been wrong. But the songs needed to render and he had to do something else. Instead of checking his wallet for missed messages he walked over to Carmen’s door and knocked on the open frame.
”Juls said Raffe is okay? I noticed he’s not on the roster for a while.”
***
Carmen was eyeball deep in accounts, the screens fanned out around her on the wide, curving desk, but she paused from the work to glance up at the knock. Her open door policy was both figurative and literal. Nox lingered in the frame, and her eyes ran him up and down, lips quirking for his hair and makeup; it looked good on him, though it would look better when the cuts and swelling eased. She did not ask about that, though she’d heard via the girls of some of the drama passing under Kallisti’s roof at the moment.
“He’s taken some leave, that’s all,” she said. Whatever the boys were or weren’t to each other now, confidentiality prevented her from sharing exactly what she knew: which was to say it was medical leave. Raffe had been upset last she saw him. Carmen hadn’t known why at the time, though she had a better idea now of course. Still, she found the decision Raffe made odd. Knee-jerk, maybe. The trial was all above board though. She’d checked it out thoroughly after they called. “I can get a message to him if you wanted me to, though I can’t guarantee a response. Juls is right though, he’s okay.”
Carmen wasn’t about to take sides. Kallisti’s rules never extended to fraternisation between employees, but workplace romances were a risk in any setting. Still, she cared about them both, and if it helped to ease Nox’s mind it was the least she could do.
***
Nox was glad she didn’t ask about anything and nodded. He hoped she’d have extended the same to him in the reverse situtaion, not that Raffe would have fucked up this badly. He smiled at her. ”I’d appreciate that. Can you tell him I’ll be doing the skit I’ve been working on since before I lost the arm, the second in my greek myths thing.”
He took a step away from the door. ”None of this will affect Kallisti. I promise. This is family. Whatever changes that doesn’t.” He dropped his eyes as he made a promise. The guilt spread through his body and he took a deep breath and gave Carmen a teary eyed smile. ”Thanks.” He paused, then added. ”For Everything.”
***
She nodded. Two fingers dragged one of the screens closer and she paused to make an annotation on it, not that she was likely to forget the message. But with Carmen everything was business-like, even though everyone knew the soft heart behind that serious expression.
“I know it won’t affect Kallisti,” she said sternly. Had he not said it himself, she likely would have reminded him of her expectations. But if Carmen was a strict boss she was also a kind one. Nox’s eyes glistened a little wet, and it made her frown to see. “Family,” she agreed firmly. “You don’t have to thank me.” There was no smile, but her expression was a little softer. If he had more to say she’d listen, and her door was always open if that day was not today. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d consoled a broken heart. Otherwise she made a shooing gesture with her hand, and returned to her work.
***
Carmen shooed him away. Not that he needed the dismissal. He didn’t want to talk about it.
Nox walked away letting the half faked smile fade. His mood was drowning again. He needed to eat. There were other things he could do but none of them appealed at the moment so Nox made sure the laptop had finished it’s last render and paused the others while he packed up his bag. ”I’ll be back. I need food.” The girls who were now practicing nodded and a few shouted a food order his way and he tried to remember exactly what they were but he had all their favorites on a list on his wallet. Wasn’t the first time he’d been in charge of the food run.
Mandy smiled as she gave Nox a last look. ”You have such beautiful eyes. Long Eyelashes I’d die for. And the guyliner just makes them pop so much more. You should always do it.” She said as Nox stared in the mirror examining their handy work. He couldn’t say he didn’t like it. But he hated wearing the foundation but they were right — Nox couldn’t look like he’d been beaten to a pulp.
But as with life — all things end and the girls went their own ways and Nox was left sitting at his laptop. He’d found some great tracks and the lyrics would work, except Nox didn’t want to have lyric distracting from the skit itself, so he had to render them into instrumentals. It had been a while since he’d used the software Aurora had written for him as kid. She said it was easier to dance to when he wasn’t distracted by the words.
She hadn’t been wrong. But the songs needed to render and he had to do something else. Instead of checking his wallet for missed messages he walked over to Carmen’s door and knocked on the open frame.
”Juls said Raffe is okay? I noticed he’s not on the roster for a while.”
***
Carmen was eyeball deep in accounts, the screens fanned out around her on the wide, curving desk, but she paused from the work to glance up at the knock. Her open door policy was both figurative and literal. Nox lingered in the frame, and her eyes ran him up and down, lips quirking for his hair and makeup; it looked good on him, though it would look better when the cuts and swelling eased. She did not ask about that, though she’d heard via the girls of some of the drama passing under Kallisti’s roof at the moment.
“He’s taken some leave, that’s all,” she said. Whatever the boys were or weren’t to each other now, confidentiality prevented her from sharing exactly what she knew: which was to say it was medical leave. Raffe had been upset last she saw him. Carmen hadn’t known why at the time, though she had a better idea now of course. Still, she found the decision Raffe made odd. Knee-jerk, maybe. The trial was all above board though. She’d checked it out thoroughly after they called. “I can get a message to him if you wanted me to, though I can’t guarantee a response. Juls is right though, he’s okay.”
Carmen wasn’t about to take sides. Kallisti’s rules never extended to fraternisation between employees, but workplace romances were a risk in any setting. Still, she cared about them both, and if it helped to ease Nox’s mind it was the least she could do.
***
Nox was glad she didn’t ask about anything and nodded. He hoped she’d have extended the same to him in the reverse situtaion, not that Raffe would have fucked up this badly. He smiled at her. ”I’d appreciate that. Can you tell him I’ll be doing the skit I’ve been working on since before I lost the arm, the second in my greek myths thing.”
He took a step away from the door. ”None of this will affect Kallisti. I promise. This is family. Whatever changes that doesn’t.” He dropped his eyes as he made a promise. The guilt spread through his body and he took a deep breath and gave Carmen a teary eyed smile. ”Thanks.” He paused, then added. ”For Everything.”
***
She nodded. Two fingers dragged one of the screens closer and she paused to make an annotation on it, not that she was likely to forget the message. But with Carmen everything was business-like, even though everyone knew the soft heart behind that serious expression.
“I know it won’t affect Kallisti,” she said sternly. Had he not said it himself, she likely would have reminded him of her expectations. But if Carmen was a strict boss she was also a kind one. Nox’s eyes glistened a little wet, and it made her frown to see. “Family,” she agreed firmly. “You don’t have to thank me.” There was no smile, but her expression was a little softer. If he had more to say she’d listen, and her door was always open if that day was not today. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d consoled a broken heart. Otherwise she made a shooing gesture with her hand, and returned to her work.
***
Carmen shooed him away. Not that he needed the dismissal. He didn’t want to talk about it.
Nox walked away letting the half faked smile fade. His mood was drowning again. He needed to eat. There were other things he could do but none of them appealed at the moment so Nox made sure the laptop had finished it’s last render and paused the others while he packed up his bag. ”I’ll be back. I need food.” The girls who were now practicing nodded and a few shouted a food order his way and he tried to remember exactly what they were but he had all their favorites on a list on his wallet. Wasn’t the first time he’d been in charge of the food run.
![[Image: nox_sig.gif]](http://thefirstage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/nox_sig.gif)