Mercenary Academy

After class was over, an announcement came over the intercom.

"Would the new student and Lyxia please come to the head teachers office please, thank you"

Lyxia packed up her books, sighed and headed to her locker to put away her books. Once she had finished that, she headed to the head teacher's office as quickly as she could. When she arrived it seemed John had made it before she had.

"Alright, Lyxia and John was it? Anyway, here you go. A mission..."
Lyxia sighed, picking up the paper and looking at the details of the mission.

"One so soon? Wasn't expecting this..."

"It's a reconaissance mission. You guys up for it? The contact details of the client are all in that info you have in your hand..."
"Sure, I'm up for it...Let's go John" she grabbed John and dragged him out of the room and out of the school, not wanting to discuss this anywhere but in the privacy of her home. Once they arrived, she gave the packet of paper's to John to read.

"Seems he wants us to meet him tomorrow to go over it with us before we do it...Be ready by tomorrow...You can stay here as long as it takes to read that information, after that, I want you out, got it?"
 
Having not even had a chance to object, or even get a word in edgeways, David appeared rather flustered by the time he had been "forcefully directed" towards Lyxia's apartment. Mumbling something making his disdain at his treatment evident, he took the papers, giving them a once-over.
"Recon... Remain hidden... Don't touch anything unnecessary... Not much to go on, is it? Still, I suppose the point of a recon mission is to gain knowledge of the area or target, so I guess this is fair enough. Still, you would have thought I'd get a smaller job the first time round..."
Sighing, he handed the assortment of papers back to his partner, and turned on his heel towards the door. With little in the way of him caring about even staying, Lyxia didn't even need to tell him he was to depart as soon as he had gleaned what knowledge he could. However, the location had not been specified, and therefore, the information was not sufficient. This prompted a question, delivered just as he was about to leave. "What do I wear? Camouflage, or my civvies? The location was never given to me, and it doesn't seem to be on there. If we're infiltrating an area, I need to know what to wear to blend in."
 
Lyxia sighed.

"Well, since we are just a school of "stupid kids" as a lot of our clients call us, they fail to give any sort of extra details. They only trust the adults there at the school, which is stupid....But smart....I'll call the principal tonight and get the specifics....They only tell it to them and sometimes the principal forgets to give us the specifics....Do you have a phone I can contact when I get all the specifics? Wait...No...I"ll just call him now and ask him..."

Lyxia picked up the phone and called up the principal. Nodding here and there and saying "Yes sir" she hung up.

"We are to meet at the school's front gate around 7 am and be wearing dark clothing....He said that's all we need to know. Oh and a word of advice...do not wear anything that will get in your way. If we are found on a recon mission, we have already failed...That enough info for you?"

Lyxia prepared her dinner. She always ate well before going on a mission like this, because, most likely, she wouldn't get anything to eat until the mission was over. She looked over at John.

"Would you like to stay for dinner or would you like to go home and get ready? Because right after dinner, I am getting some sleep. I need a lot of rest before these kinds of missions to perform at my best..."
 
"Look, if you can't tell by my accent, I'm a transfer student from England. The south-east, if you want to be picky. I have no home here. I slept in the park because I had no choice. I abandoned it all because- Well, that's not important. I'll just go and get something from the convenience store. I'm not that hungry, and I seem to remember- Actually, you just go and have dinner, I'll meet you there."
What he was going to say was that he seemed to remember a bag of clothes being tossed out, ones that seemed wearable. Wearable, in the sense that they would not be in his way, and he vaguely recalled the fact that a few of them were dark. Though his top was dark and non-restrictive, he had little in the way of suitable legwear. And, considering Lyxia's reaction to him being shirtless, and how it was just generally unacceptable, going in his underwear was not a viable option. He had also been sorely tempted to stay for something to eat, even if he reasoned that he was probably entitled to little more than scraps. The minute amount of currency he had in his pocket would cover about two pots of instant noodles, and a bottle of still water if he was lucky. But, he and Lyxia were evidently not on chummy terms, despite her offer. He reasoned to himself that it was just so the mission went smoothly, so the atmosphere would be a largely unpleasant one. However, his game was given away as soon as he took a step out of the doorway, his stomach emitting a pained groan, and John just about preventing himself from doubling over. "I'm fine, it's nothing..."
However, the following groan from his stomach told a different tale entirely.
 
Lyxia chuckled a little.

"Hey, I can't let someone go hungry, even if it is someone i don't particularly like....Stay for dinner. I insist..." She grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the table where the food sat waiting to be eaten. She had obviously overcooked, which she usually did, and so it was perfect.

"Have as much as you want. You can even stay the night. The couch out here is free and it is quite comfy. I may not be on good terms with you, but I cannot see a partner of mine go through this anymore. You need to be healthy and strong if you are going with me on a mission. Eat up and I'll go find a blanket and pillow for you. I'll join you after I find one..." She walked to her closet. She always had a couple extra pillows she used to take with her on her missions. She could spare one. Grabbing a spare blanket out of her closet along with that pillow, she threw them on the couch and joined with him in eating a delicious plate of rolls with Mashed potatoes and Pork. There was also a bowl of green beans and carrots she had cooked up too. She took a little bit of each, hungrily eating her food quickly. She then did her dishes and waved as she headed off to the bathroom.

"I'm going to go take a shower before I head off to sleep. Feel free to ask for anything if you need it. The bathroom, when I'm done with it, is down the hall and to your left. You may snack on anything in the fridge if you so wish and you may watch TV as long as you want. Now don't you dare say you don't want to bother me or accept my help because I am giving it freely. You can accept it with gratitude...ok? Now, make yourself at home..."

At that she headed off to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She had to get plenty of sleep tonight in order to keep up her stamina in the morning for their mission.
 
As the meal was eaten at such a swift pace, conversation was a concept not accessible in that current situation. However, this mattered not - John reasoned that they would not have much to say to each other, irrespective of his treatment, and thus concluded it would not matter if he remained silent. In lieu of this, he ate heartily, though keeping reserved, as if it were drilled into his head that no matter how hungry he was, table manners came first. Strictly speaking, he wasn't at the table, but the concept was essentially the same. Before he could so much as thank her for the meal, Lyxia had departed to take a shower, leaving John to his thoughts. He had never been particularly fond of television, a;ways finding the programs excruciatingly boring to watch, and much preferred to rent or buy DVDs after being recommended them by certain contacts. With this in mind, he leaned back against the sofa, allowing his mind to wander to trivial matters - it was important for him not to think too hard, he saved that for when it counted.
That girl... She's a mystery. Thorny and hostile one moment, then cooking a meal and letting me stay the night... I know it's ll for the mission, but with all this, i can't help but think that she's not so bad after all. I can't say for sure that she'll even want to be my friend, but maybe if I explain that I just got off on the wrong foot with her, then we can at least not be at each other's throats...
 
Lyxia finished up in her shower and quickly got dressed, throwing her hair up in a ponytail. She pulled the covers down and got them ready for her long night of sleep. She then remembered. She also had dvd's and hadn't told him. She made her way back out to the living room where she could see that he was sitting and just thinking. Smiling a little, she couldn't help but think maybe he wasn't so bad after all. He may have been a smart mouth to her when they first met, but that was on a mission and it didn't really count. Now they were companions, going on the same mission with each other. Maybe she should try to get along with him. She leaned against the hallway wall and spoke up.

"Hey, I forgot to mention that there are some dvd's down in the cabinet below the tv. I don't buy a lot of them, but if it has anything to do with action, i probably own it. I also own a lot of romance dvd's, But ignore those...They are just what I watch on my time off..." her face went red as she explained her reasoning to have that many romance dvd's.

"Anyway, you can feel free to watch any movie you want, alright? But I wouldn't stay up too late if I were you. Since we have to get up early in the morning...Well...Goodnight..." She turned and headed off back to her bed.
 
Before he could even open his mouth to form a response, Lyxia had once again absconded, leaving a drained John in her wake. Granted, he had not done particularly much, but he felt drained mentally, and one must keep in mind he was both starving and thirsty before he had arrived. John refrained from removing his shirt this time, knowing that performing such an act in another person's house without prior consent, was a huge breach of social protocol. Even if he did, he would have left a note somewhere before where he was sleeping, from exiting Lyxia's room, in order to alert her to his hypothetical state. In lieu of this, he settled upon unbuttoning his ink-black shirt, allowing him to swiftly cover his torso, should somebody encounter him. His attempts at further hiding it via sleeping with his exposed side to the back of the couch were in vain - he always awoke on his back or on his face. In this case, he fell asleep within the space of a minute, his front facing the ceiling. Luckily, for both of the pair, he had decided to drape the blanket over him, providing an effective - if marginally uncomfortable - backup plan.
 
Lyxia crawled into bed. Before going to sleep, however, she decided she would take a minute and plan out everything that she might need that morning and see if she had extra items to spare for John. She got up and checked her supplies. She always had extras just in case she was in need of any and sure enough, she was in need of extras. She grabbed supplies such as rope and hitches and such. Better to be over prepared then under prepared. She then grabbed her spandex outfit out of the dryer and laid it out on her bed. That should be adequate. She walked out into the kitchen to set the items on the table and noticed John sleeping, but this time, she could remotely see that his shirt was unbuttoned, but not taken off. He did have decency after all. Although, the blanket was slipping off of him.

Lyxia walked over to him, laughing softly to herself as she fixed the blanket. Asleep, he didn't look so menacing as he did when awake. She left the living room and headed back to her bedroom, locking the door. She then crawled into bed and fell asleep, setting the alarm for 5:30 am.
 
John, while not being the picture of elegance while asleep, certainly looked substantially more peaceful in slumber than in waking. Mumbling something about cheese, and how aliens were running the government, the darker pieces of his memories began to surface, rearing their ugly heads where they were no welcome.

The room was a pitiful excuse for sleeping quarters - bereft of any sort of significant furnishing, all that was on the floor was a layer of dust, and a mattress that would have been more at home within the glass cases of a bed museum. This constituted the place where the boy of eight slept, but he was wandering the room at that point in time, his mind working a mile a minute. The child had grown up before his time - while he still possessed the schooling level of a child his age, his mindset was that of a more serious, less playfully-inclined person. Dealing with a distant father, a busy mother and an impassive sister had that effect. It was not that nobody cared for him - they cared with ll their hearts. No, it was the simple fact that nobody had the time to, and matters had to be taken into his own hands. With nobody to help, he was forced to entertain himself - and, with his mind as it was, he wasn't going to be pleased with pretending to be a tiger.

Replacing John's peaceful expression on his slumbering face, was more sombre look - not sad, but caught recalling an unpleasant event.
 
The alarm woke up Lyxia, much to her dismay. She slammed her fist down on the silence button and got up, going to check on John as she got out some breakfast. She started up the stove and cooked up some bacon and sausage. She also managed to hurry and make pancakes and set them all on the table with some syrup and butter. She didn't know what he would like, but she hoped that he would just like it in general. She shook John gently.

"Time to get up. Breakfast is ready for you. Let me know if there is anything you may need. I have an extra pair of clothing that would fit you if you need it..." at that, she headed to the bathroom to fix up and get ready. After spending a long while in the bathroom, putting up her hair, she headed out to the kitchen to get some breakfast before she brushed her teeth. She hungrily ate the sausage and bacon as well as a couple pancakes. After that, she headed back into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.
 
Again, he had not even the chance to mutter a good morning, instead grunting incoherently as he got up. re-adjusting his shirt, and buttoning it up half-heartedly, he ate his breakfast without even a sliver of a word. Noticing that he smelt like the back end of a skunk, and that this was probably not going to be beneficial in any way whatsoever, he resolved to use the shower, up until the point where he remembered that he had no towel of any sort. He supposed he could just use his shirt as a makeshift towel, but it wasn't the most viable option to him. Nevertheless, he went into the bathroom, knocking and waiting a few moments to ascertain whether he would be allowed in. Receiving no answer, but hearing her cleaning her teeth, John assumed Lyxia would allow his entry, and stepped inside tentatively.
"Good morning. Sleep well?" he asked, opting to stand instead of lean. He still held onto the belief that he could be friends with Lyxia, and to do that, he would have to at least attempt to show he cared marginally for her. He didn't plan to speak for long, however, - if he was allowed to use the shower he would have to wait for his host to leave the room.
 
Lyxia brushed her teeth quickly. As she was finishing up, John found his way to the bathroom.

"Yes, I did. Thanks for asking". She pulled a towel out from under the cabinet sink and handed it to him.

"Your more than welcome to use my shower. I'm all done in here so go ahead and use it." Lyxia left the bathroom to go get her supplies in order while John showered. She also quickly did up the dishes. It was 6:30am. They only had 25 minutes left to get things in order. It only took 5 minutes to get to the school. She started packing the supplies she would need on her person such as a rope, hitches and different devices such as an in-the-ear device in order to quietly talk to John if she needed to. She set the extra set of clothes she had just inside the shower door for John and headed out onto the couch. She plopped down and waited. It shouldn't take him long to shower. At least she hoped he wouldn't take too long. She would be kicking him out in 10 minutes if he wasn't done by then.
 
John nodded, hoping that he could be dine with before he was forced out. However, given her reaction to his lack of top before, he highly doubted the possibility of her dragging his naked being out without some degree of disdain. Regardless, he knew he had a mission to perform, and thus, he had resolved to clean himself as efficiently as possible. Normally, he'd soak a little to ease of the aching in his joints from waking up, but he had no time in which to allow his pins to be worked out by the warm water raining unto him. After cleansing his body to a satisfactory level, he dried himself off, though his hair was still slightly damp. He had managed to flatten it, though without the use of a comb, the measure would have to be strictly temporary. However, upon feeling his clothes, he managed to notice they were slightly damp from the humidity and steam in the bathroom. John had naturally assumed a window to be open, in order to allow excess vapour to escape, but the state of his clothes said otherwise. And though the dampness was not anything major, it still made things uncomfortable. In this light, he realised he had to ask for assistance. It was still early, as far as he could recall, and he had no want to disturb people by calling. Thus, he wrapped a towel around his waist, and poked his head around the corner to talk to his acquaintance in closer proximity. He assumed she'd probably notice his bare shoulder, and assumed she knew what this meant - even if he was decent enough to hide the majority of his being, and use a towel.
"Hey, would you mind tossing me those clothes you mentioned? I'd wear mine, but they got a little damp from the steam..."
 
Lyxia looked at him with a perplexed look.

"The clothes should be right by the door on your left as you walk out..."

She had sworn she had left them there, but maybe she hadn't. She had the worst short term memory ever.

"If not, they are near the door. I know I put them near the door..." She went red, seeing that he did try to cover himself up decently, but seeing him like that still made her blush a little. Any girl would blush at seeing a half naked man. Well, fully naked, but covered from the waist down. Still, it was quite embarrassing that she tried not to stare and looked away, face red.

"Please hurry it up too, we have to leave in 10 minutes..." she looked at her clock. More accurately, they had to leave in 9 minutes...But who cared about the details? She shook her head and tried to get the image of a half naked John out of her mind...She couldn't let it distract her. She had to do good on this job, no matter what!
 
"Ah, all right, thanks."
Nodding politely, John paced back, finding the clothes with minimal difficulty. The ensemble consisted of black clothing, fitting so that it was snug, yet non-restrictive. The shirt and trousers were both fashioned from a breathable material, that seemed to adhere to his body shape perfectly - exactly the right size, as it so happened. Pulling on the items with due hast, he stepped out to meet Lyxia, a look of stony determination etched onto his face, the astuteness and readiness of a soldier in his stance. Now, he knew, was a time in which messing around would be an unfavourable course of action. Thus, in this light, he had forced himself out of character - into a serious, no-nonsense soldier, ready to take orders when the time came. "I'm ready to head out. Is there anything I need to hear before I step out of that door?"
A perfectly normal question - he simply wanted information, assuming it was dealt on a need-to-know basis.
 
Lyxia nodded.

"Just one...Once we arrive at the school, there will be a car. He said we would know it when we saw it....He didn't really explain in detail what the car looked like. Just where we were supposed to be picked up by our client...Oh and no trying to get more info out of the client. They will do that if they so feel it necessary....Plus, as long as we know what the mission is for like say espionage or stealing something...Then that's all that is really told to us. We are supposed to figure out everything else by ourselves...It is part of our gathering intelligence points of our mission. The more intelligence we gather on this mission, during the mission alone and not asking our client about details, the higher we score...I know it's completely childish and a bit vague, but I deal with it all the time and I usually score high on the intelligence gathering portion, unless it is stealing something...Which is one of the easiest things to do...anyway, let's be off. Grab that pack I packed for you and let's be on our way!"

She lead the way, walking hurriedly to school.
 
Nodding slightly at each point of information, John followed without a word when Lyxia left, not having anything to say. Now wasn't the time to ask for a hair drier, nor was it the time to tell her the tank top and spandex shorts gave off the wrong sort of message - even if, in his humble opinion, it didn't look that bad on her. He often wondered whether anything exciting would ever happen to him, and now that something was, he wondered if he would actually be able to even do anything regarding mission progression. Pushing the doubts from his mind, he focussed solely on following Lyxia, saving his breath for when it mattered.
Five minutes held little time for conversation, irrespective of boredom.
 
Lyxia fast walked all the way to the school. At this point, she could care less about being in an embarrassing outfit. It was one of the many outfits she had that wouldn't be in her way. It wasn't the most comfortable, but it worked. They arrived at the school in no time and sure enough, there was the car, waiting for them. She opened the car door, asking if this was the client. They nodded and she ushered John inside.

"Ok, once we get there, we start immediately. Remember, we are being scored on this, so don't make me do everything for you. I'm only your helper, not your slave..."

The client started off, heading west. Lyxia didn't say a word. She had no need for words. Not when she was trying to concentrate on doing her missions perfectly. If she got distracted, even just a little bit, then the whole mission would fall apart and they wouldn't get paid. She looked over at John and wondered if he was thinking the same.
 
John's mind was blank - mostly for lack of things to think bout. No particularly useful information pertaining to the location had been divulged, and only what appeared to be standard procedure had. Nevertheless, many scenarios played out in his head, his mind conjuring a solution to as many as possible. As he stared at his feet, the cogs whirred, and he became nigh-unresponsive - regardless, if he was needed, he would snap out of his train of thought, and partake in whatever it was that he was needed in. That aside, he needed money - he didn't want to be living with Lyxia forever, and even in the event he was forced to, he figured that rent was an inevitability. Thu, money was a necessity.
Throughout this, he had looked to Lyxia only when she had explained something before they entered the car. Otherwise, it seemed as though he had completely phased her out.
 
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