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This Takes place between a New Dawning & Campfire
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Alexander watched Ethan fidget with the mission tablet, losing himself in overthinking again. The gator had a fairly easy solution for moments like these, but he wanted to wait for something. He was curious to know whether Ethan was going to mention the nightstalker that hovered close by them, just outside of being in close proximity, or if the lurker's presence meant they were going to run into trouble while on their mission.
If it were the latter case, then it wouldn't be too much of a problem for them to take care of, especially since Alexander could see that he wasn't the only one who noticed him. Feathers had taken a keen interest in watching the stranger's movements as well.
Ethan was given a full 60 seconds to deliberate his thoughts before Alexander initiated his tried-and-true overthinking intervention. The specule never saw the two fingers coming before they made impact with the side of his temple with a resounding flick, giving him a new headache to think about as he was brought back to the world of reality. "Are you going to give us the details, or was the whole point in asking to start early was so we can loiter about while you overthink for the next two days?" he mocked in jest.
At the corner of his eye, however, Alexander saw the nightstalker tense their shoulders and twist, flicking their back foot to the group's direction before returning to their seemingly casual look through the guild resources and missions. That was the mysterious lurker's giveaway. "I see you." Alexander chuckled to himself.
"Oh yeah, the mission," Ethan said while rubbing his aching head. "So, I was thinking we would look over the missions first, but since I couldn't sleep a wink, I went ahead and looked through them all night. This one is going to be a long one, but I believe we can do this one in time," he said, handing over the tablet.
The mission he selected was indeed a long one. The original plan was to have 10 days blocked out for taking a traversal mission; the one Ethan now picked was estimated to be about 15. Feathers tapped a taloned finger against the number while Alexander asked, "And where are we pulling out 5 extra days from?" "Well, I was thinking that, since we are starting our mission a lot sooner, we can use these extra early days and put them to a larger commission". He said as if with great promise, but the optimism was not reciprocated by his teammates. "Ethan, the total of our commission might be higher than the previous one we had picked out. But when you divide it by the days it'll take us to complete, on an estimate, we're getting paid less per day," Alexander pointed out.
Feathers looked over the numbers, up to Alexander, and gave a curt nod before retreating to the guild's board to pick out a different mission. "I didn't notice that. Guess I should've gotten that sleep in, huh? I kinda forgot about that." Ethan laughed, but Alexander was still eyeing the nightstalker suspiciously. There was still no mention about him by the team lead, and it started to seem that there wasn't ever going to be. "Is there anything else that you're forgetting to tell us?" the gator asked, a bit annoyed by it all.
Either Ethan didn't want to acknowledge the presence, or he was ignorant of the pressure. He ran his fingers through his hair while thinking about it. With a tired sigh and chuckle, he said, "No? Not anything I could think of-"
Ethan had barely gotten the words out before his arm was grabbed and twisted behind his back. With a quick sweep of a leg, Ethan's legs gave out under him, and he immediately changed into a plush fabric body. Ethan's reaction only made Alexander's rotation swifter and easier with the lighter weight. In the corner of Alexander's vision, he saw that the nightstalker was already in motion, but he was much quicker.
Alexander stopped when the length of a sword was held up to his neck, which only made him chuckle. Very easily could the gater have taken Ethan's life if he wanted to, while he was clearly fatigued, with the body of a plush. Ethan was held up by the twisted arm behind his back, and with one leg pulled up, he was in a prime position to inspect the floors. His arm could easily be ripped off, he could have pressed his skull into the cold marble with his heel, bite and tear off the leg if he was feeling violent, but he wasn't. He was in no mood for violence, but neither was he in the mood for the complacency of their silent watcher.
A voice called out at some distance, "No roughhousing in the hall," echoed before Ethan chimed in. "Uhm, Alexander?" Ethan bid for notice, but Alexander only asked him again. "Are you still forgetting something? Information that you were bringing a tag along, perhaps?" he jeered at the nightstalker.
Cold white eyes narrowed back before the starry facade rippled away from Dylan's physique. "And what gave it away?" Ethan shifted while he was pulled up back to his feet, his body of fabric changing back to flesh. "Maybe it's attention to detail. Or maybe it's the overprotectiveness of papa watching over their little baby bird when a big, scary hawk comes too close." He said, flicking Ethan again and egging Dylan to speak up. "That's enough, Alexander."
The gator was strong, almost too strong in Dylan's opinion, and he was too indifferent when applying too much force. A red welt was already swelling where Ethan had been flicked in the forehead twice now, to Dylan's frustration.
"You need to keep your hands off if we're not going to have any more problems," he threatened.
"Or what?" Alexander asked tauntingly, hoping Dylan would try something.
Feathers pushed the two men away from each other, rather disappointed in their childish actions. "Yeah, it's best not to fight." Ethan chimed in. "I didn't actually plan on having him join us in this mission. He's just going to be around for the start, but once we head out, he'll be staying behind. I didn't really think anyone would notice since it would be so brief," he anxiously explained.
"And what about this mission made Father Bear want to hold your hand to school this time?" Alexander laughed while Dylan shook his head.
"I don't need a reason. The biggest one would be to keep you in check," he spoke down to the towering reptile.
"Well, let's see how well you can do that," came the taunt. "We're so honored to have Thee Lupisulvian brothers on our team for the day," he turned with a grand gesture. "I'm going to need to make some phone calls before we set off on this mission."
As he began to walk away, Ethan said after him quickly, "Actually, it's Lupis! Just the Lupis brothers". With his curiosity piqued, Alexander stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Oh? And why is that?" he almost purred.
"Well, the old last name was too long, you know? Lupisulvian? It's kinda a mouthful, don't you think?" Ethan laughed out of nervous habit once again.
Alexander gave a quick chuckle with a low hiss of eerie satisfaction before he turned back to answer the incoming call.
As Alexander stepped out, Ethan yelped, the back of his head now throbbing.
"Ow! What did you do that for?" he asked, turning to his older brother, who stood calm and collected. "You need to stop doing that," he said.
"Stop doing whaaat?" Ethan whined.
"That laugh thing," Dylan sighed. "I find it weird."
"It's not weird!" Ethan snapped, though Dylan didn't take the bait.
"I guess you should work on your confidence—but don't let it get to your head."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Ethan asked, more confused than ever, but there was no more need for their back-and-forth. Dylan simply stepped aside, letting Ethan and his team continue with their usual pre-mission preparations.